Detroit — Electric vehicle owners parking in downtown Detroit will now be able to charge their vehicles faster.

Four fast charging stations came online Wednesday on First Street next to Beacon Park, DTE Energy said in a statement. The Detroit-based utility also plans to place two fast chargers at Capitol Park.

The new stations are the first fast charging stations in the city, DTE Energy said.

The new charging stations use direct current, instead of alternating current, allowing electric vehicles to charge about 10 times faster, according to DTE Energy.

One hour of charging from one of the stations provides 150 to 210 miles of range, depending on the vehicle model and the fast charger power level, according to a DTE webpage.

The fast chargers will cost $1 to turn on plus 40 cents per minute, meaning an hour of charging would cost $25.

The placement of the fast charging stations is part of an initiative by Project Kinetic, a collaboration led by DTE Energy along with support from the City of Detroit, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation's PlanetM, General Motors and Blue Energy.

"We are thrilled to lead the partnership effort to bring DC fast charging to the city of Detroit and we look forward to further deployment of EV charger infrastructure, and bringing the benefits of EVs to our customers," said Camilo Serna, vice president of corporate strategy for DTE Energy.

Blue Energy will own and operate the chargers. Blue Energy and DTE Energy will collect and analyze data for all four chargers.

ecarter@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @EvanJamesCarter