Just charge it.
That’s the message from O’Hara Township officials to electric vehicle owners.
The township has recently installed two new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in O’Hara Township Community Park, making for a total of three EV stations in the public park.
The stations were paid for in part by a $21,000 grant from the state through Driving PA Forward through the Department of Environmental Protection.
The program was developed to improve air quality across the state by transitioning from older-model, high-polluting diesel engines to clean transportation technologies.
Of $70 million awarded so far, Driving PA Forward has funded the installation of more than 1,700 EV charging plugs in communities and along highways across Pennsylvania.
Users are charged $.15 per kilowatt hour.
Each station has two plugs and customers pay using the ChargePoint App that is linked to a credit card.
O’Hara Township Manager Julie Jakubec said the total cost for all of the chargers is $45,918.
Additional charging stations are available at Lauri Ann West Community and the municipal building.
The charging stations have helped to stop up to 16,797 kg of greenhouse gas emissions, Jakubec said.
“It’s like we planted 431 trees and let them grow for 10 years,” Jakubec said.
In O’Hara, the average charging session lasts about 1 hour and 47 minutes.
The power transformer at the park was provided free by Dusquesne Light, saving the township about $45,000.
In three months, the average number of charging sessions in the township is about 160 per month.
