NYC Adds 50 Solar-Powered EV Chargers

This, in addition to the city’s 37 existing solar carports, is the largest network of solar-powered electric vehicle chargers in the country.

New York City has deployed 50 solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to power its growing fleet of battery-electric fleet vehicles.

Known as solar carports, each charging station is capable of recharging up to three electric vehicles daily. The city previously installed 37 solar carports around the five boroughs.

“With these new solar charging stations, we are taking a step further toward making our city fleet fully dependent on renewable energy,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement.

The city already operates the largest electric vehicle fleet charging network in the country, with 529 sites to support more than 1,700 electric vehicles in use across 28 city agencies, with plans to add at least 100 additional electric vehicle chargers over the next two years.

Mayor de Blasio’s NYC Clean Fleet plan calls for 2,000 electric fleet vehicles on the road by 2025.

The network of solar carports will annually power fleet vehicles for more than 650,000 miles of emission-free driving, and each carport offsets half its cost through gasoline savings over its life cycle.

The solar carports require no installation and can be moved around using the city’s flatbed tow trucks. These units offer critical emergency resiliency, serving as backup and mobile solar-power generations and storage units in case of power loss or a storm emergency.

Originally posted on Government Fleet