There's growing usage of electric car charging stations in Tampa

DOWNTOWN — Electric cars haven't quite clogged roadways or put gas stations out of business yet, so the city didn't know what to expect after installing 10 electric car charging stations.

Mayor Bob Buckhorn even had to borrow an electric-powered Chevy Volt for a ceremonial plug-in that christened the stations in early October.

"I'll be perfectly honest with you," said public works director Irv Lee, "I didn't really have any expectations to tell you the truth."

Then evidence rolled in. The day after installing an electric station in a city garage, a city worker spotted a user and hurriedly snapped a photo — as if it were a sighting of the Loch Ness Monster.

"We were pleasantly surprised that it happened almost immediately," Lee said. "Once the things went live people were using them."

City usage numbers requested by the St. Petersburg Times showed how many visits the stations were getting. As of Dec. 1, 19 customers had plugged their cars into charging stations at an average of nearly three hours per use.

"It does appear there are some vehicles out there in the Tampa Bay area that are using our garages and lots," Lee said. "It'll be interesting to see how it continues to grow. I'm anticipating that it will."

From October until November, Florida saw a threefold increase in the use of electric charging stations run by Coulomb Technologies as part of the ChargePoint America program, which includes Tampa's charging stations. Tampa applied for and received its 10 charging stations at no cost from the $37 million ChargePoint America program — which includes $15 million in federal stimulus funding.

Tampa's stations are spread across the city in parking lots and spaces, restaurants and shopping areas. The stations receiving the most usage were inside the William F. Poe parking garage, visited seven times, and the Tampa Convention Center garage, with six charges.

Drivers can access the charging stations using a ChargePoint card, through a special "RFID-enabled" credit card, or by calling the toll-free number on the charging station, said Scott Miller, eastern regional director for Coulomb Technologies.

The city is not charging users a fee at this time but several stations are located in city parking spaces or garages, which require parking fees.

Demand will decide whether Tampa will acquire more stations, but Lee said the city has no plans to add any at this time.

Across the bay, St. Petersburg is installing 10 charging stations; Dunedin was considering acquiring as many as three late last month. Clearwater opened its first station in November with two more expected to be installed soon.

Justin George can be reached at (813) 226-3368 or jgeorge@ tampabay.com.