Mercer County officials approve purchase of four electric vehicle chargers
Mercer County will buy four Level 3 EV chargers to be installed at two County facilities.
A resolution authorizing a contract with the Timothy P. Bryan Electric Company Inc. for the purchase and installation of ChargePoint Express250 Level 3 EV chargers was approved by the county commission this month. The contract is for $532,410.
Two chargers will be installed at the parking lot at the Mercer County Administration Building at 640 South Broad Street in Trenton, and two will be installed at the Mercer County Improvement Authority at 80 Hamilton Avenue in Trenton.
Level 3 chargers – which use direct current and are known as fast chargers — can recharge a plug-in electric vehicle at a rate of 60 to 80 miles of drivable range per 20 minutes of charging time, according to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
“The installation of these fast chargers is the next step in our efforts to support electric vehicle infrastructure,” County Executive Brian Hughes said. “It also helps continue to raise awareness about the environmental benefits of gasoline alternatives as we further our commitment to increasing sustainable practices throughout the County.”
Mercer County installed dual-port Level 2 charging stations at 11 County facilities last year. The NJDEP has awarded Mercer County $75,000 through the It Pay$ to Plug In Grant program and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has awarded Mercer $150,000 through the Clean Energy Electric Vehicle Tourism Grant Program to help offset costs associated with the purchase, installation, and maintenance of the Level 3 EV chargers. The remaining costs will be paid with Sustainability Capital Funds
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
A quick google search reveals that the chargers themselves cost $52,000. https://smartchargeamerica.com/electric-car-chargers/commercial/chargepoint-express-250/ — so four of them would cost ~$200,000.
So the question is, where does the other $330,000 go? pretty expensive installation costs. Even if you had $50k for shipping and $50,000 for installation of just 4 chargers, that’s still a missing $230,000…
Hmm.
Also, these chargers max out at 62.5kw, or, if paired, 125kw… Tesla superchargers can do 250kw… So that’s half a million bucks for just 4 chargers, for something worse than what Tesla has had for years.