As part of the Commissioner Board’s continued commitment to creating a more sustainable future, improvements have been made to the electric vehicle charging stations (EVC) across the county and 10 new stations have been installed. The updated and new stations were unveiled during a press conference on Tuesday.
“We now have 21, top quality electric vehicle charging stations at strategic locations across Camden County, which will help us serve the growing number of electric vehicle owners, as sales have increased in the last few years,” said Commissioner Jonathan Young, liaison to the Camden County Office of Sustainability. “This project just further bolsters our mission of improving the environment and exploring ways to reducing our energy consumption while shrinking our carbon footprint.”
The original stations were then upgraded, and 10 brand new ones were added. Altogether, the project cost $148,643. The fee structure was set at $2.50/hour until the car is charged then a 30-minute grace period before the “idle fee” of $10.00/hour is charged.
Congressman Donald Norcross, who supported the Inflation Reduction Act that includes millions of dollars of federal funds for new charging stations, has been a proponent of electric vehicles.
“Transitioning to a clean energy future means building the charging infrastructure we need to accommodate an increasing number of EVs on our roads,” Norcross said. “I congratulate Camden County on being forward-thinking in deploying the technology necessary to ensure our communities are cleaner and more environmentally sustainable.”
The Board of Commissioners also plans to secure funds from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 to further expand the county’s EVC network in the future.
“Traditional combustion engines are just continuing to deteriorate our air quality,” Young continued. “In order for us to truly make progress when it comes to air quality and climate change, we will need to keep expanding our EVC networks for years to come until they are as ubiquitous as gas stations and the Board of Commissioners is committed to making this expansion a reality.”
In 2013, Camden County entered a pilot program as a cost-sharing agreement with ECOtality North America to install the countywide charging infrastructure. At the time the burgeoning market for electric vehicles was growing but still in its infancy stage.
“The expansion of EV infrastructure across South Jersey is a vital step, not only in reducing warming, but also it will help improve our air quality,” said Dr. Elizabeth Cerceo, a physician with Cooper University Health Care and head of the air quality committee at Tri-County Sustainability. “Tri-County Sustainability congratulates Camden County on today’s announcement, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Commissioners, municipal leaders, and our neighboring counties to continue advancing EV and renewable infrastructure across the region.”
Electric vehicle charging stations are located at the Camden County Boathouse at Cooper River, the Camden County Technical School in Gloucester Township, the South County Regional Branch Library in Winslow Township, the Bellmawr Branch Library and Camden County College’s Campuses in Gloucester Township, Cherry Hill and Camden City.
Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Shin Angulo talked about the importance of the electric vehicles and the impact they have on our air quality.
“Getting more electric vehicles on the roads is an imperative for us as a community for our children’s health and welfare,” Shin Angulo said. “The particulates and pollution that come from internal combustible engines is suffocating our society and the electric vehicles are one of the ways to offset that air pollution. That said, we need a sturdy and strong infrastructure to support recharging those batteries and I want to applaud the commissioners to meeting that challenge.”
In less than 10 years the number of electric cars sold in the U.S. went from about 100,000 to 1.7 million. All the Commissioner Board’s new charging stations are on the U.S. Department of Energy’s website www.afdc.energy.gov/locator/stations/.
