Thanks, in part, to a state grant, the Denver International Airport (DIA) says travelers who pay to park at the airport now have access to newer, faster electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in its parking garages.
A total of 10 new EV charging stations have opened in the west parking garage. The stations are free to customers who pay to park in the garage, and the units are compatible with most electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The new stations are the airport's first public AC Level 2 chargers, which use 240-volt infrastructure and provide up to 20 miles of range per hour of charge time, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates.
The project was partially funded using a grant awarded to DIA from the Charge Ahead Colorado Electric Vehicle and Charging Station grant fund, a program of the Regional Air Quality Council and the Colorado Energy Office. The grant will pay for $32,600 of the estimated $85,000 project.
The project brings to 20 the number of publicly available vehicle charging stations in the airport's parking garages. DIA installed its first 10 EV charging stations in both the east and west parking garages in late 2013. The airport says those AC Level 1 stations use 120-volt infrastructure that provides up to five miles of range per hour of charging time.
“The airport is constantly evaluating passenger needs, and we identified electric vehicle charging stations as an amenity that not only fills a growing need for travelers, but also supports DIA's commitment to sustainability,” says DIA CEO Kim Day. “The first charging stations have proven to be extremely popular, and we hope passengers will enjoy charging up even faster now.’
