Seattle Is Installing Hundreds Of Curbside EV Chargers

• Seattle wants to install hundreds of new EV chargers where apartment dwellers live.
• The city is asking residents to apply for sites where the new chargers should go.
• After the sites are selected, the Level 2 curbside chargers will be installed on a rolling basis from fall 2027 through 2030.

Hundreds of new curbside Level 2 EV chargers will be installed in Seattle, in an effort to make life easier for electric car owners who live in multifamily buildings. The project will prioritize areas with apartment buildings and few charging options, and residents can apply for new sites on the Seattle City Light portal.

In total, up to 200 new Level 2 EV chargers will be installed across the city by 2030. Until fall 2027, residents can send in applications for new locations. Then, City Light and the Seattle Department of Transportation will review those applications and select the locations where the new stalls will be installed. According to the city, locations will be chosen in batches of 40-50 at a time, on an ongoing basis.

Seattle already has 58 chargers installed across the city as part of a previous pilot program.

Designing the sites and permitting will kick off in spring 2027, followed by the start of installations in fall 2027. Each site will see about two weeks of active construction, with all locations expected to go online by 2030.

Areas near multifamily housing that are not already served by curbside chargers will be prioritized. What’s more, the program will use a so-called “walk score” metric to ensure new sites are nearby businesses and parks, which leads to higher utilization rates. Communities that suffer from pollution and have experienced underinvestment will also be on the priorities list.

The project comes after a successful pilot that deployed 58 chargers at 31 locations across Seattle in 2023 and 2024. In the last year alone, these chargers have been used 45,000 times, according to SDOT spokesperson Mariam Ali, quoted by The Seattle Times.

The new chargers will be paid for by the $1.55 billion Seattle Transportation Levy that was approved by voters in 2024. The budget will be used to reduce air pollution, offer more sustainable transportation options, and install more EV chargers across the city, including at parks, community centers, and libraries.

From the $32 million dedicated to electrification in the levy, roughly $21 million will be spent on the 200 curbside chargers. An additional $2 million will come from Seattle City Light. Currently, it costs $0.21/kilowatt-hour to charge at the city’s curbside EV chargers, with a peak power output of 9.6 kilowatts.

Over half of all homes in Seattle are apartments or condominiums, which often don’t have off-street parking. This makes it quite inconvenient for EV owners, who sometimes have to rely on costlier DC fast chargers that are located near shopping centers or major traffic corridors. Curbside charging can fix the issue, as the stalls are closer to home, and the car can stay connected to the chargers for multiple hours without affecting other drivers.

The solution is widely spread across Europe, and American cities are slowly adopting it, too. Besides Seattle, New York City, Detroit, and San Francisco are taking action and deploying more EV chargers in residential areas.