Knoxville will be able to expand its electric car fleet with 30 new EV charging stations

Knoxville is one small step closer to achieving Mayor Indya Kincannon's goal of reducing carbon emissions 80% by 2050 after the Knoxville City Council approved funding to expand electric vehicle charging stations.

The council on Oct. 17 unanimously approved a contract for $103,719 with local company Edison Electric to install 30 EV charging ports at the City-County Building Garage at 400 Main St. for electric cars in the city's fleet.

Electric cars make up a tiny but growing percentage of the more than 1,400 vehicles and pieces of equipment managed by the city for public services. The city has nine electric cars in its fleet and has ordered an additional 16, said Brian Blackmon, the city's sustainability director, who called the city "woefully underported."

"A pretty critical path for us to reduce operations emissions is how we electrify the fleet. Right now, we're kind of constrained because we don't have enough ports to really buy a lot more EVs," Blackmon told Knox News. "This is really about putting the infrastructure in place for us to be able to scale up our EV purchasing."

One port can charge two or more cars, so with 30 additional ports, the city could add at least 60 more electric cars over the next three years. Electric cars already are used for several city services, including electrical inspections and stormwater engineering, Blackmon said.

The two EV models purchased by the city are the Nissan Leaf and the Hyundai Kona Electric SUV, both considered budget-friendly. The 2024 Leaf starts at $28,140 with a range of up to 212 miles on a full charge, while the 2023 Kona Electric SUV starts at $33,550 with a range of up to 258 miles on a full charge.

In the future, the city might look into electrifying its entire fleet, Blackmon said, though heavy-duty electric vehicles are much less affordable. On average, the transaction price for an EV was $53,469 in July 2023, according to data from Cox Automotive, which owns Kelly Blue Book.

In May, the Knoxville City Council approved an application for a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to add more EV charging stations for community members. The program will provide $2.5 billion to local governments for EV infrastructure updates over the next five years. Blackmon said the city has not received notice of whether it received the grant, and the contract with Edison Electric is unrelated to any potential grant money.

Kincannon, who usually presides over council meetings, was absent as she attends Bloomberg CityLab in Washington, D.C., a meeting of mayors around the nation. Vice Mayor Andrew Roberto sat in her place.

How many EV charging stations are in Knoxville?

The city's contract is part of a broader push to "significantly accelerate community adoption of electric vehicles," a goal of the mayor's Climate Council, which convened in 2020. Transportation accounted for 59% of community carbon emissions in 2019, according to city data.

There are around 50 public and private charging stations in Knoxville available to EV drivers. In the last year, the city added free public charging ports in the Burlington neighborhood, at Lakeshore Park and in the Locust Street Garage, Blackmon said.

These chargers are Level 2 ports, common for at-home and public stations, which charge at a rate of about 25 miles or more per hour.

The city's next expansion project is a partnership with the Knoxville Utilities Board to bring direct-current, or DC, fast chargers to downtown, which can fully recharge an EV battery in 30 minutes and are about 25 times more powerful than the city's current ports. Blackmon said construction on the project is anticipated to begin in early 2024.

Residents can fill out a survey from the city's Office of Sustainability that allows them to propose a location for a new charging station by dropping a pin on a map. In partnership with Knoxville-Knox County Planning, the city developed an interactive map showing the most suitable locations for charging stations.

Knoxville partners with TVA and KUB

Electric cars have no tailpipe emissions, so their presence on the road automatically reduces a community's carbon footprint compared to gas vehicles.

But there's another benefit to electric cars that's less immediately clear, Blackmon said. While a gas car produces roughly the same amount of emissions across its lifespan, the electricity that powers an EV becomes more green each year.

Through partnerships with KUB and the Tennessee Valley Authority, the city gets a look into how much carbon is emitted to produce its power. TVA, the nation's largest public power provider, reported its electricity generation was 57% carbon-free in 2020, compared with around 36% in 2005, thanks in large part to expanding nuclear, hydro, solar and wind energy capability.

For drivers concerned about the up-front cost of an at-home charger, which can run more than $1,000 for a Level 2 port, KUB is offering a $400 rebate on newly installed EV chargers to customers who apply by Dec. 31. Customers must fill out the application within 60 days after installation.

Daniel Dassow is a growth and development reporter focused on technology and energy. Phone 423-637-0878. Email daniel.dassow@knoxnews.com.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville will add 30 EV charging stations to expand electric fleet