There are roughly 125,000 electric vehicles in North Carolina, NCDOT says, with many in Orange County.
Orange County has 76 public charging stations. Chapel Hill (40) leads the way, followed by Orange County (25), Carrboro (11). Parking decks in Hillsborough, Chapel Hill, Carrboro have the most stations. EV charging is free in Carrboro and Orange County but not in Chapel Hill.
EV charging units at UNC parking decks (Business School, Cardinal, Craige, Cobb, Ramshead) and other campus locations like Giles Horney lot on Airport Rd. are not included in the local number because they are limited to UNC permit holders. All are ChargePoint stations.
Here’s where public charging stations are:
Chapel Hill has 20 at Rosemary St. parking deck; 6 public parking level at 140 West downtown; 4 Homestead Aquatic Center; 2 each at Town Hall, Eubanks park & ride, Chapel Hill Library, Southern Community Park, Hargraves Center.
Carrboro has 5 at Drakeford Library parking deck; 2 each at Town Hall, municipal lot on W. Rosemary, MLK Park on Hillsborough Rd.
Orange County has 11 at Eno parking deck, Hillsborough; 6 Durham Tech park & ride lot; 2 each at Bonnie Davis Ctr and Detention Ctr, Hillsborough, Cedar Grove Comm. Ctr, Seymour Senior Ctr.
Nearly all Chapel Hill-owned stations charge 20 cents per KWh plus processing fees. Park & Plug units at Library, SCP, Hargraves charge a fee of 13.4 cents per KWh plus a 6% tax. Some older stations do not charge a fee because they are not equipped to do so, Chapel Hill said. The town charges fees to help maintain this equipment over time.
The two original stations at Homestead are being replaced by four new stations. This work is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
J.B.