Stimulus funds jolt car-charging-station plans

The Seattle area will get millions of dollars from the federal government to equip streets and homes with charging stations for the electric cars due to arrive at area dealerships next October.

The Obama administration made the announcement Wednesday.

The exact amount of money was not immediately clear — but is intended to fund 2,550 charging stations. The stations are to be spread around the Seattle metropolitan area, including the Eastside, said Alex Fryer, spokesman for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.

It is not known precisely where the stations will be, said Colin Read, vice president of corporate development of Ecotality, the parent company of Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec), which will establish the stations.

Other areas around the country to share in the $100 million Department of Energy grant are: Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville, Tenn.; San Diego; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; and Eugene, Corvallis, Salem and Portland, Ore.

This spring, Seattle announced that Nissan North America would make the city one of the first markets for its all-electric car, the Leaf, in October. It can go 100 miles on a charge.

Under the grant, which is part of the federal economic-stimulus package, people who buy a Nissan Leaf will get a 220-volt charging station in their home at no cost. In addition, eTec will put in a station network throughout the area for any electric vehicle.

Zipcar is part of the deal, and will put electric cars on the streets for members of its car-sharing service.

It will take four to six hours to charge a car using the stations in people's homes. The public charging stations will be faster. Fifty of them will charge a car in 15 minutes.

Fryer said most people will probably use home chargers for their cars, but public chargers are for "peace of mind."

The announcement is well-timed for Nickels' re-election campaign. He made expansion of electric vehicles part of his campaign platform.

In the next-four-years agenda he released last month, Nickels said he would build 1,000 car-charging stations across the city and region in the next four years, taking 3,000 regular cars off the roads.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com