After Seattle City Light’s previous efforts to install an electric vehicle charging station on Broadway were curbed, the organization is proposing to build a similar EV charging station in the Central District.

The charging station would be implemented on East Olive St between 21st and 22nd Ave as part of the City of Seattle’s pilot program to add EV charging stations throughout the city. The pilot program is part of the Drive Clean Seattle Initiative, which hopes to provide more EV charging stations as an incentive for people to drive EVs, aiding the city in meeting its carbon neutral goals.

If the chargers are built, two fast chargers will be located along the curb while two existing street parking spots will be converted to “EV charging only” spaces.

The average EV charging session lasts between fifteen and thirty minutes, so drivers would be limited to an hour of parking at these spaces.

In March, City Light nixed a similar proposal to construct an EV charging station on Broadway outside Capitol Hill Station. Responses to a survey about the project conducted by City Light indicated the public preferred the city focus on transit, pedestrian, and biking options for the intersection. The project would have blocked the protected bike lane, and moving the charger after its installation to restore the bike lane would have proved costly for City Light.

The planned chargers join a free market rush to also provide charging services with installations in the city’s right of way already in place and applied for across Seattle.

Now, City Light’s next attempt at an EV charging station in the area is being shaped. City Light is seeking feedback on the proposed EV charging station in the Central District in an online survey. The survey can be found on surveymonkey.com/r/CDCharging. Survey responses will be collected until Friday, July 12.

It’s not clear whether City Light will return with a plan for a Capitol Hill location for its charger program. Some community feedback gathered in the Broadway process suggested 12th Ave might be a more appropriate location for the single occupancy vehicle infrastructure.

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