New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations are in Boca Raton

By: Michael Demyan

Boca Raton residents and visitors with electric vehicles will now have more options to charge their car, as the city has installed three new charging stations.

Two of the three new stations are outside City Hall on West Palmetto Park Road. The other location is at the Spanish River Library. These new stations will be in addition to the one that was installed at the Downtown Library in October 2015.

Each station can charge two cars at once, so up to eight vehicles can be topped off for free at the same time in the city.

“The charging station at the Downtown Library has been a success.” Boca Raton Municipal Services Director Dan Grippo said. “The hope is that the stations are an added benefit and that they support and encourage drivers of electric vehicles.”

The addition of more electric vehicle charging stations continue Boca Raton’s attempts to improve the environment. When the first station was installed, the Downtown Library was recognized with a LEED Silver Certification Plaque, which is awarded for buildings which promote clean energy and health while saving money.

In May, the Boca Raton City Council also adopted a climate change pledge through a unanimous vote. The pledge is a step forward in integrating the Regional Climate Action Plan, which includes 110 recommendations to make Southeast Florida a better place.

Boca Raton Mayor Susan Haynie hopes that the new stations will set an example for other places around the city.

“We hope that more commercial businesses will follow our lead and start installing stations as well,” she said. “Transportation models are changing and electric vehicles are a big part of that
change; we all need to do our part.”

City Council Member Robert Weinroth, who owns his own electric vehicle, agrees with Mayor Haynie’s sentiment. When Boca Raton only had the single charger installed, he would often see that two vehicles were already using it, leaving him unable to. The new chargers will help those kinds of situations, but he hopes that the expanding will not stop there.

“We need to have these all around, not just at the municipal offices,” he said. “I think that conversations with the developers as they’re doing new communities, especially those that are coming in under planned mobility, we have made it clear that we expect that they’re going to be putting in the electric vehicle charge stations.”