“We recognize that more people are driving electric vehicles, and we’re going to put them in locations where people will visit,” said Fairfield Public Works Director Ben Mann. “We want to lower barriers and have more reasons why someone might want to come to Village Green, Waterworks Park or Harbin Park.”
Nasdaq.com indicates EV sales are expected to grow this year despite headlines to the contrary, citing that BloombergNEF estimated EV sales this year will be around 16.7 million. , However, even that reduced number would mark a 20% increase from this year’s forecast. Cox Automotive, whose parent company is Cox Enterprises, as is Cox First Media, recently estimated that electric vehicles in 2024 will equal 10% of all vehicle sales.
The city will file each EV charging station project separately ― which are estimated to be around $25,000 each ― and the grants will be through the Ohio Kentucky Indiana Regional Council of Governments via the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Mann said installing the stations is not just a public service, but is also seen as an economic development tool.
“We’re really about trying to bring people into our Town Center,” Mann said. “The more people we bring in, the more businesses will come in, the more that will build off each other.”
The current station at the Community Arts Center does not charge a fee for EV users, but eventually will once additional charging stations are installed.
Hamilton has installed five Level 2 dual-port EV charging stations at four locations, and Michael Gurr, the city’s senior project manager, said they received $45,000 in grant funds from the Ohio EPA.
The city of Hamilton has also received recently an additional $441,152 in Federal Carbon Reduction funds via OKI to install six Level 3 single-port fast chargers this fall, Gurr said. Hamilton is currently in the planning phases of the project and already has two locations for the six single-port charging stations. Four are planned at Hamilton CNG Filling station, 2216 S. Erie Boulevard, and two are planned for 141 Market St., which is less than a quarter-mile walk from Marcum Park and RiversEdge.
If Fairfield’s grants are awarded, the Level 2 EV charging station projects would require a 20% local match, Mann said. The application is due to OKI by Feb. 1, and any installation will occur later this year. The city already contracts with AmpUp at the Community Arts Center station, which from January 2023 to mid-November 2023, saw 383 charging sessions and saved nearly 6,300 pounds of CO2.
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