‘Charging to charge’: City of Winter Park to implement Electric Vehicle connection rates

WINTER PARK, Fla. — Winter Park officials are taking steps to address complaints about the use of the city’s electric vehicle charging stations.

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City leaders say usage patterns associated with the charge-for-free stations have changed since the first one was installed in 2012, leading to increasing complaints about vehicles using chargers for extended periods of time, parking without being connected to the charger, or being left connected to the charger for extended periods of time when already fully charged.

To combat these issues, the city will begin implementing new EV charger connection rates.

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Starting Friday, November 1, electric vehicle owners will be charged $1 for every 20 minutes of connected time, billed at the start of the charging period.

The rate increases to $10 per hour after three hours of connected time, billed at the start of each hour.

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The Winter Park Police Department will also start issuing citations to enforce certain restrictions on the use of EV charging station spaces.

Moving forward, electric vehicles will be required to be connected to the charging station when parked in the space, and non-electric vehicles will be prohibited from parking in spaces designated for EV charging altogether.

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The city installed six grant-funded public EV charging stations in 2012. Today, there are 11 charging stations throughout the city for residents and visitors to use.

For more information on Winter Park’s EV charging station and connection fees, click here.

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