Government

Additional Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Proposed

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New Canaan has fallen behind “peer” municipalities such as Westport and Greenwich in how few electric vehicle charging stations it offers visitors, a deficit that the town could start to address this spring, officials said last week. With just four public stations compared to some 30 in other towns, New Canaan isn’t doing as much as it could to draw those seeking to shop, dine or see major attractions such as the Philip Johnson Glass House, and to ease the “range anxiety” of those visitors with electric vehicles, according to Parking Commissioner Chris Hering. Strategically placed around the downtown, the additional charging stations could be marked “electric vehicle preferred” so that regular gas-powered cars could use them, too, Hering said at the Commission’s March 14 meeting. They also could be set up efficiently as “dual-headed tandem stations” so as to serve a cluster of four parking spots at once, he said. “There is an increase in electric vehicles in the state and the trend is for more electric vehicles at an accelerating pace,” Hering said at the Commission’s meeting, held in Town Hall.

Business

High Praise for New Canaan’s Karl Chevrolet, ‘Volt’ Electric Vehicle from State Officials

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State environmental and auto industry officials on Tuesday praised a longstanding New Canaan business for its vision and commitment by way of touting a recently launched rebate program that promotes low-emissions electric vehicles. Since it launched in June, the “Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Vehicle Purchase Rebate” or ‘CHEAPR’ program has seen more than $200,000 in rebates paid out, spurring the purchase or lease of more than 100 vehicles, state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert Klee said during a press event held on the showroom floor of Karl Chevrolet on Elm Street. Standing beside a not-yet-available 2016 Chevy Volt model that was shipped in especially by GM, Klee—his own state-owned Volt charging at the dealership’s own station alongside the building—noted that Leo Karl III, president of Karl Chevrolet, has led efforts across a wide swath of lower Fairfield County to see electric vehicle charging stations installed. The CHEAPR program offers cash rebates of up to $3,000. “It is really this sort of visionary leadership at this level that we need around the state to really drive home” the advantages of driving electric vehicles, Klee said.