So much for “power” to the people for the city’s first wave of electric-car buyers.
A year after Mayor Bloomberg introduced a program offering 100 free home charging stations to buyers of the superhigh-mileage vehicles, not a single one has been installed in a New York home.
Scott Miller, of Coulomb Technologies, which launched the program, said that demand has been high from public garages and parking lots but that private individuals have been put off by the lack of garage space or the cost of electrical work, which can run from $1,000 to $4,000.
The company, buoyed by $15 million in federal stimulus funding, is spending $37 million to put in 4,600 public and home charging stations in select cities across the country.
It takes 10 hours to charge a Chevy Volt on regular household current; the higher-powered chargers can do it in four hours.
According to Google, there are 35 public charging stations within 25 miles of City Hall.