SF Bay Area Gets $5 Million for Home and Commercial EV Chargers

Mayors in the region endorsed a public-private plan in late 2008 to install billions of dollars worth of charging stations  for electric-drive vehicles, and scores of chargers funded with federal, state and local grants already have been installed by individual cities in the region in preparation for the debut of rechargeable electric cars.

Now the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has approved a $5 million grant program to help pay for installation of 3,000 residential EV chargers (for single family and multi-family dwelliongs); 2,000 public electric vehicle chargers to be installed at businesses and in public parking lots; and 50 fast chargers, capable of providing battery charges in 30 minutes or less, to be installed at locations with easy access from the region's freeway system.

The grants will be made in support of the district's Spare the Air program and is designed to help make electric vehicles viable private transportation options for Bay Area residents, said district CEO Jack P. Broadbent.

The transportation sector accounts for more than half the air pollution in the nine-county region and the district is charged with controlling and reducing that pollution.