City of Santa Clarita officials are expected to establish the community’s first city-funded electric vehicle charging station by January 2015.

Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking Santa Clarita news alerts delivered right to your inbox.

“The city is expecting one fast-fill electric vehicle charging station located within easy access to Interstate 5 within the next 6 months. This station is made possible through a grant with the State California Energy Commission,” said Evan Thomason, spokesman for the City of Santa Clarita officials are expected to establish the community’s first city-funded electric vehicle charging station by January 2015.. “We are also hoping to add two more public charging stations in the next year.”

Electric Vehicle Chargers’ costs vary greatly, ranging between $500 and $15,000, but on average public chargers are usually priced at about $5,000, according to the California Air Resources Board.

Related: Fancy An Electric Vehicle To Beat Gas Prices

Electric Vehicle charging stations are pricy, but come with federal tax deductions and state rebates to encourage their construction, according to the California Air Resources Board. 

Public electric vehicle chargers, all of which are privately owned by companies within Santa Clarita, are currently located at the Valencia Hyatt, the Canyon Country Kohl’s, the Castaic Lake RV Park, the Valencia Westfield Mall and College of the Canyons Valencia campus among other locations.

However, there are currently none provided by the city of Santa Clarita.

Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or drop us a line at community@hometownstation.com.

Unlike charging stations established by the city of Santa Clarita, some electric vehicle charging stations established by private companies only allow customers of the business to take advantage of the station.

The city established electric vehicle charging station is expected to be publicly open to all residents of the Santa Clarita Valley.

“People are certainly more inclined to buy cars if they know they can fuel them,” said California Air Resources Board Officials.

There are currently about 1,000 public electric vehicle chargers in the state of California and more are being added as more residents buy electric vehicles, according to California Air Resources Board officials.

While 70 percent of electric vehicle owners charge their cars at home, public charging stations are extremely convenient because they allow owners to charge their vehicles while shopping or while at work, said California Air Resources Board officials.

“We’re continually looking for funding and grants to build more stations,” Thomason said.

[node:title]

Article: [node:title]
Source: Santa Clarita News
Author: [node:author]