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In collaboration with the United Teen Equality Center, a local youth development organization, the city of Lowell is offering free use of an electric vehicle charging station.
The station, located on Warren Street in front of the United Teen Equality building, provides free parking and charging for two electric vehicles simultaneously.
Allegra Williams, Lowell’s neighborhood planner, said the Department of Energy Resources donated the station and provided $1,000 to cover its installation costs. Williams described the location as ideal, because of its heavy traffic and its proximity to downtown and the United Teen Equality Center’s new “Green Building,” which will house a green resources education center.
The United Teen Equality Center, which has a 34-kilowatt solar array on its roof, is supplying the electricity for the charging station. The power will be provided for free indefinitely, with free parking until at least 2014, Williams said.
People who make use of the charging station will gain access by swiping a ChargePass Network card. ChargePass cards are more typically used as a debit card for paying for access to a charging station.
With the growing popularity of electric cars such as the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, charging stations are becoming more common. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are eight such stations in the Lowell area.