More electric vehicle charging stations may be on the way to Austin following a vote by the city council on Thursday.
In a 10-0 vote, the Austin City Council voted to have City Manager Jesus Garza devise a plan for the distribution of both DC fast chargers, as well as Level 2 chargers, which are more common at homes and places of business.
District 6 Councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly abstained from the vote.
“Making charging stations, especially fast chargers, more accessible throughout the city might nudge people who may be on the fence about electric vehicles to make the switch,” District 7 Councilwoman Leslie Pool said. “Having more access and more users will go a long way toward reducing our use of fossil fuels community wide.”
Citing data from the Texas Electric Transportation Resources Alliance, electric vehicle use has increase by nearly 40 percent over the past year, the city said.
No potential cost estimate was provided in Pool’s proposal.
Kelly proposed an amendment that would have required the vision plan to include the fiscal impact to Austin taxpayers, as well as the city resources that would be required to create this expanded network of EV chargers. No other councilmember voted in favor of Kelly’s call for a cost estimate to be included, and her amendment ultimately failed.
