Boston University Medical Campus is unveiling new electric vehicle charging stations Thursday at 11 a.m., BUMC officials said.
BU installed two charging stations on the first floor of the 710 Albany St. parking garage, said BUMC Transportation Coordinator Maureen Lacey.
The stations are among 22 granted to the City of Boston by the Green Communities Division of the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. Each station received $1,000 from the Division.
“We look forward to celebrating this very important step in our shared goal of all things green,” she said in an email interview.
Lacey said Boston, a designated “Green Community,” made plans anticipating the growth of the electric vehicle market in the Northeast. Boston received priority on funding over other potential applicants in Massachusetts.
“With electric vehicles coming in last year, there’s been a need for electronic charging stations,” said Dennis Carlberg, director of Sustainability@BU.
Each station in the garage has two charging units, Carlberg said. While the popularity of electric cars may depend on how many charging stations there are available, there has been increasing demand for them.
“In the first year since electronic vehicles came out, there have been more sales of electronic vehicles than sales of the hybrid in the first year,” Carlberg said.
The stations were awarded to local business partners and placed in publicly available spaces in urban locations, Lacey said. TransComm at BUMC was one of the applicants selected to receive the grant.
Rachel Szakmary, transportation planner and manager of the initiative for the city, said the winter weather has caused some delays. Seven of the 22 stations will be installed in March.
“There’s a certain period of time in the winter months where you’re not allowed to install stations or do [outside development work] due to the cold weather,” Szakmary said.
Working with the dealys, Carlberg said the stations will be only position.
“Society will benefit most,” Carlberg said. “I don’t think you can say one group over another would benefit. The American people [will benefit].”
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