Due to a grant the City of Cambridge recently received from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, owners of  Electric Vehicles (EVs) will soon have the option of charging at public stations throughout the city. Only awarded to 24 other communities in the Commonwealth, this advance in the City’s Climate Protection strategy will encourage Cambridge drivers to make the leap from the common and inefficient Internal Combustion Vehicles (ICVs) to EVs and/or plug-in hybrids.

Susanne Rasmussen, Bronwyn Cooke, and John Bolduc at the DOER grant award ceremony.

Electric vehicles have been known as eco-friendly products for years; long enough that they seem to have become an integrated part of our society. EVs and plug-in hybrid cars use electricity, which is still mostly sapped from the grid; made through the burning of coal in large power plants. What many do not know is that the burning of fossil fuels in power plants is considerably more efficient than the incineration of gasoline in the ICVs that we are all used to.

From a first look, there seems to be no barrier to purchasing an electric vehicle other than maybe lack of familiarity for some, and otherwise cost–but in reality, at least one inconvenience stands in the way for some: Charging.

Until now, EVs have required drivers to charge at home or at private charging stations.  While Massachusetts does provide a $2,000 incentive for home charging station equipment, a need to charge outside the home pervades.

When all is said and done there will be at least seven new stations in Cambridge, provided through a public-private partnership between Coulomb Technologies and the State of Massachusetts. Right now the stations are still being set up and agreed upon by partners with the City, but you can be sure that you’ll be able to charge in Porter Square, at the Cambridgeside Galleria, and in the DPW lot near Inman Square before long.  Hours of availability, pricing, and more exact locations will come out as they are locked down!

Keep an eye on Coulomb’s ChargePoint station finder as they start popping up in Cambridge, and use the locator to find nearby stations in the meantime.