Electric Car Charger Coming to Parking Garage

As promised, Port City Nissan donated an electric car charging station to the city which is now being installed in the High/Hanover Street Parking Garage.

By the end of this week, electric car owners will able to pull up to the new charging station on the main level of the garage and recharge their engines.

Port City Nissan requested permission from the Portsmouth City Council in January to donate the class 2 electric car charging station, which will be able to serve several electric vehicles including the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt.

The Portsmouth at the High/Hanover Street Parking Garage.

Jennifer Fecteau, executive manager at Port City Nissan, said then the electric charger would enable the growing number of vehicle owners to come to Portsmouth to recharge their cars and shop and dine downtown.

Fecteau told the council there are many benefits for the city, which has set goals to become known as a green, sustainable community.

“It would become a hub for electric car drivers,” she said.

She explained then that in order for electric car owners to take trips of more than 100 miles, they have to recharge their car batteries. These vehicles are also equipped with a telematics system called CARWINGS that interacts with the vehicle's on-board navigation system to show electric car owners where chargers are located. They can also use a smart phone app called ChargePoint to direct them to the nearest car charger, she said.

Locally, Fecteau wrote in a letter to City Manager John Bohenko that Port City Nissan is selling the LEAF electric vehicle. Nationally, she wrote that Pike Research indicates the electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles will account for 3.2 million units between 2010 and 2015 with a compound annual growth rate of 106 percent.