Saint Johners who drive electric vehicles can now “fill up” at one of two charging stations that have been installed in the Peel Plaza Parking Garage.
Saint John Energy’s Manager of Engineering Darren Lamont tells us to use it, you need to drive into the parking spot then swipe a VERnetwork card over the front of the machine which unlocks the plug-in and gets you registered. Then, you unravel the cord and plug it into your vehicle. You can check your mobile device to see if the charging stations are available.
Commissioner of the Saint John Parking Commission Charles Bryant says they have received interest for something like this in the Port City from at least one driver. He says it’s still new technology and he doesn’t believe there are a lot of electric vehicles on the road right now but he expects more and more over time.
The cost of charging your car is one dollar per hour on top of the cost of parking. The SJ Parking Commission gets 80-percent of the revenue while 20-percent stays with the network company to pay for the wireless communications and internet setup.
The stations were installed as a result of a partnership between Saint John Energy, the Parking Commission and the City.
