Tempe's New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Press release from Tempe:

June 22, 2021

Tempe, AZ – The City of Tempe, through a partnership with Salt River Project (SRP), has installed seven new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the Tempe Public Library – nearly doubling the previous number of chargers on site.

With the help of SRP’s Business EV Charging Rebate, the city was able expand the available EV charging stations that can charge both city fleet vehicles and public electric cars. The charging stations have been installed and are available for use today. This project makes progress toward the Tempe City Council’s community and municipal carbon neutrality goals.

These installations are possible because of an incentive rebate program from SRP. SRP currently offers a rebate of $1,500 per certain networked EV charging port, which is an incentive available to commercial customers including cities in SRP’s service territory across the Valley. The anticipated rebate will pay a portion of the $42,000 cost for the new stations.

The charging stations are made by ChargePoint and can be easily located by EV drivers using the ChargePoint app which maps out a nationwide charging network. People wishing to charge their vehicle with the ChargePoint station use an app to pay for the electricity.

“Electric vehicles are a critical part of our clean-energy future and a key element in Tempe’s Climate Action Plan,” said Tempe Mayor Corey Woods. “Tempe is committed to increasing the use of electric vehicles and will triple the number of public charging stations by 2025. SRP is a valued partner as we work toward this goal. To achieve cleaner air, and to reduce the effects of climate change, we must move away from gasoline and toward electricity.”

Tempe Library electric vehicle charger details:

• Three dual-port ChargePoint EV charging stations now replace the previous single-port Blink EV chargers in front of library
• One single port Blink EV charger by book drop was converted to a single port ChargePoint EV charging station, making seven total charging ports available at the facility.
• The charging stations have Level 2 charging ports which deliver 208/240 volts of electricity to the car battery. Each hour of charge time will provide eight to 20 miles of driving range.
• New EV chargers are dual-purpose and can charge fleet vehicles and public vehicles
• Electric vehicles reduce local emissions as energy from the grid includes a mix of fossil fuel and renewable energy and over time the mix will shift toward sources with lower emissions
• Completing this project brings the total number of EV charging stations in Tempe to 28 for fleet and 10 public charging stations. There are an additional eight fleet charging stations planned for construction this fall.

“We are thrilled Tempe was able to take advantage of SRP’s rebate and successfully install EV charging stations accessible to the public,” said Brian Bednar, SRP Senior Strategic Account Manager for the Government Sector. "This new infrastructure addition brings great value to the surrounding community by promoting adoption of electric vehicles and ultimately helping lower carbon emissions in our state. These critical partnerships and initiatives are key to what SRP advocates for as part of our sustainability goals.”

This press release was produced by Tempe. The views expressed here are the author’s own.