Electric car owners will have a working charging station in Winslow.
A Chargepoint Electric Vehicle station will be put in place of the Blink station that has been “out of service for quite some time,” said Barry Loveless, Bainbridge Island public works director.
The Blink station has been down for several months and has been working intermittently for about a year.
The situation will be different with Chargepoint, Loveless said.
“They have a good record of maintenance and response to service,” he said.
To repair the current station, Blink wanted keep 60 percent of the profits from the station and have the city to agree to an exclusive 4-year contract that would allow only Blink stations at city facilities.
Chargepoint will keep only 10 percent of the fees, and the city will have full control of setting the fees with a 3-year contract.
The city will even be able to monitor the usage online, including the time and hours of usage.
“We can be as sophisticated as we want to be as far as setting the rates,” Loveless said.
That was not the case with Blink.
Blink had not been as forthcoming with usage data, said Rex Oliver, Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce president.
While the new station will have two charging cables, there will only be one designated spot for electric car charging like there is now.
“Until there is a proven need, which we would learn by the use of [the new charging station], I am not in favor of taking a new spot,” Mayor Ann Blair said. “The advantage is we will learn what the demand is.”
The new station is estimated to cost about $8,200.
