Almost two years ago, the city installed three electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, placed at City Hall, the Community and Event Center, and the Boys and Girls Club. Since then, there has been increasing interest in EV’s across the State, with most new purchases occurring in the Puget Sound region.  Due to the high cost of fuel in Washington, and the very cheap rates for our clean hydropower, it costs four times less to drive an EV than a comparable gasoline vehicle.

The free city chargers on Mercer Island are frequently in use, and have now delivered over 1,600 sessions, and helped prevent the production of over 30,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline combustion.

The city is expanding its EV infrastructure, first by designating additional parking stalls for EV’s (marked in green paint) so that it is easier to share a charger, or wait for one to become available. All three of the city’s chargers already allow simultaneous charging by two different vehicles, one at 120 volts and one at 240 volts. Later, the city intends to install additional chargers that will provide more 240 volt options.