Iowa City poised to charge for using its electric vehicle charging stations - KCRG

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IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - It is proving to be a costly increase.

Iowa has seen the number of electric vehicle registrations double in the past three years.

But with fewer vehicles using gas stations to refuel, fewer tax dollars are being collected to fix streets, roads, and highways. And although operating an electric vehicle is cheaper for drivers (a 2020 Consumer Reports study similarly showed that EV drivers tend to spend about 60 percent less each year on fuel costs compared to drivers of gas-powered cars), those free public power stations are costing someone more cash.

Iowa City is moving ahead with plans to charge 16 cents per kilowatt hour to use its electric vehicle charging stations, many located at Iowa City’s parking ramps.

It’s a move more cities that offer “electric fuel” may consider.

Especially since Iowa passed a three-cent per kilowatt tax on public (not household) charging stations to try to recoup some of that lost road tax dollars.

And it won’t dissuade electric vehicle owners like Daniel Bissell from owning EVs.

“In terms of maintenance and fuel costs and throw the tax credits on top of that, it’s so much cheaper to drive electric,” he said.

Bissell is also Iowa City’s Climate Action Analyst, so driving an electric car only makes sense. His family owns two Telsas, buying the first in 2018.

“I definitely practice what I preach.”

And more Iowans are joining Bissell.

By the end of 2020, Iowa had 5172 electric and hybrid vehicles registered in the state.

That number grew to 12,805 by July 1, 2023, with Johnson County only trailing Polk County for the most cars registered.

Electric Vehicle Registrations 2023:

• Polk County 3034 vehicles (499 in 2010)
• Johnson County 1363 (587 in 2010)
• Linn County 1338 (499 in 2010)
• Black Hawk County 469 (219 in 2010)
• Dubuque County 349 (141 in 2010)

More electric vehicles equals an increased need for charging stations

“We have seen an increase year over year and it certainly has not slowed,” said Iowa City Transportation Services Director Darian Nagle-Gamm.

That’s one of the reasons Iowa City plans to charge for giving a charge.

The fee would cost four dollars for a four-hour charge.

That proposed 16-cent per kilowatt fee would cover nine cents for electricity costs, four cents for ChargePoint, the company that runs the EV stations and collects the money through its app, and three cents to the state of Iowa’s excise tax and processing fee.

“ChargePoint already has a smartphone app that’s tied to a credit card for the customers so much won’t change from a user’s perspective,” explained Nagle-Gamm.

“They’ll just begin to see charges to their credit cards that are charged to their ChargePoint account.”

It may be a system more cities turn to as more people turn away from fossil fuel vehicles.

“Our infrastructure needs to be paid for,” Bissell admits.

“We need roads, we need bridges. So it is important that we recoup those costs.”

And it could allow more cities to expand the number of charging stations offered to the public.

“And make sure the city is providing the infrastructure to help people reduce that ‘range anxiety’,” added Nagle-Gamm.

“Range anxiety” is the fear your car will die before you find another charging station.

That anxiety is being reduced with more charging stations and better batteries.

Many vehicles average between 200 and 300 miles per charge.

But some new model Teslas can reach 400 miles on a charge.

“I will admit to being a little skeptical when we got the first one, the first EV and I did experience a little bit of ‘range anxiety’ at first,”” said Bissell.

“But the cure to that is just driving.”

Copyright 2023 KCRG. All rights reserved.

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