Hundreds of new curbside Level 2 EV chargers will be installed in Seattle, in an effort to make life easier for electric car owners who live in multifamily buildings. The project will prioritize areas with apartment buildings and few charging options, and residents can apply for new sites on the Seattle City Light portal.
In total, up to 200 new Level 2 EV chargers will be installed across the city by 2030. Until fall 2027, residents can send in applications for new locations. Then, City Light and the Seattle Department of Transportation will review those applications and select the locations where the new stalls will be installed. According to the city, locations will be chosen in batches of 40-50 at a time, on an ongoing basis.
Designing the sites and permitting will kick off in spring 2027, followed by the start of installations in fall 2027. Each site will see about two weeks of active construction, with all locations expected to go online by 2030.
Areas near multifamily housing that are not already served by curbside chargers will be prioritized. What’s more, the program will use a so-called “walk score” metric to ensure new sites are nearby businesses and parks, which leads to higher utilization rates. Communities that suffer from pollution and have experienced underinvestment will also be on the priorities list.
The project comes after a successful pilot that deployed 58 chargers at 31 locations across Seattle in 2023 and 2024. In the last year alone, these chargers have been used 45,000 times, according to SDOT spokesperson Mariam Ali, quoted by The Seattle Times .
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