GATLINBURG (WATE) - Gatlinburg has installed charging stations for electric vehicles at the city's two downtown parking garages.
Each station has two wall-mounted units that are able to recharge an electric car battery in four to eight hours. The stations are at the Aquarium and Fred McMahan/Parkway parking garages.
Gatlinburg is among the first municipalities to install the 240-volt Level II Blink Wall Mount Chargers as a part of The EV Project.
This project, managed by ECOtality and funded by the Department of Energy through stimulus grants, will provide the network supporting the deployment of 8,300 electric vehicles.
The goal is to build a nationwide infrastructure of public charging stations for electric vehicles.
ECOtality targeted Gatlinburg as a preferred site for charging stations because the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is so popular with travelers.
The stations give electric car drivers the ability to charge their vehicles on the eastern fringe of the "The Tennessee Triangle," a 425-mile stretch of interstate connecting Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga.
Tennessee is one of the pilot launch markets for The EV Project and has the largest geographic footprint of any EV Project area," said Jonathan Read, CEO of ECOtality. "We are on track to electrify more than 500 miles of EV freeway throughout Tennessee."
The EV Project includes 16 states and major metropolitan areas, and calls for the installation of over 14,000 charging stations, over the course of three years.
The stations can recharge an electric car battery in four to eight hours. (source: Gatlinburg Department of Tourism & Convention Center)
