The City of Kingston is making it a whole lot easier to ‘plug-in’. Council approved spending nearly $800,000 to build 29 new electric vehicle charging stations at various locations throughout the city.
“You can’t apply for grants until you have something tangible that you could present (to the province),” Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said. “So, I see this as a first step to be able to attract that kind of investment here to Kingston.”
The city is hoping for a boost from the province to help pay for the new charging stations, which the local MPP hinted could come soon.
“I’m encouraging the province to support it as much as they can,” Kingston and the Islands MPP Sophie Kiwala said. “I think that more news will come out on this in the very near future.”
There are currently eight charging stations within the City of Kingston that are independently owned.
In addition to the $800,000 investment, the city will offer free charging at some stations for the first two years, while the much more efficient charging stations, which can recharge a car battery in 30 minutes to an hour, will require a fee.