Salem Tabbed For Electric Car Charging Station Feasibility Study

SALEM, MA — Salem will be part of a feasibility study to facilitate on-street electric vehicle charging stations as part of an effort to make EVs more accessible to renters and residents without private parking.

Salem is one of 25 communities across the state picked to be part of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center study.

"The wider use of electric vehicles is a critical part of the Resilient Together climate action plan here in Salem, so we're incredibly excited to be selected to participate in this program," Mayor Dominick Pangallo said. "We've heard often from residents who are interested in purchasing electric vehicles but ultimately opt not to solely because they can’t charge at home.

"This initiative will give us a plan as to where and how we can remove some of these barriers to electric vehicle adoption and move us even closer to meeting our community's sustainability goals."

Installing on-street charging stations includes high upfront costs and complex technical issues for many communities.

Through MassCEC's consultant/vendor team, led by Commonwealth Electrical Technologies and supported by Leidos, On-Street Charging Solutions will provide technical and financial assistance to municipalities interested in on-street charging.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)