By the end of this year, workers and members of the public will be able to charge up their electric vehicles while at the office or accessing services at the Fairfax County Government Center.
Construction started Monday (June 29) on installations of the first EV charging stations at the county government’s headquarters (12000 Government Center Parkway) that will be available for public use, the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES) announced.
The additions will “support Fairfax County’s goal and commitment to become carbon neutral by 2040,” DPWES said in a press release.
Level 2 ChargePoint chargers that take about four to 10 hours to completely refill an empty EV battery will be installed at the government center’s parking lots A and B, according to DPWES.
“The plan is to install six dual chargers for twelve parking spaces with an additional six future dual charger bases,” the department said. “There will also be four single chargers for four accessible parking spaces. The fleet vehicles will have ten dual chargers for twenty parking spaces with an additional ten future dual charger bases.”
During construction, a number of parking spaces will be unavailable to use, including some accessible spots that have been temporarily relocated. For the first phase focused on parking lot B, a purple glass recycling bin has also been moved from a corner along Government Center Parkway to the north side of that lot.
Construction is expected to expand to parking lot A closer to the government center building around Aug. 17. Scheduled to last until Sept. 25, the second phase will again require the relocation of accessible parking spots, this time to parking lot C.
“Clear signage and direction will be provided for pedestrians and vehicles,” DPWES said.
According to the project page, the charging station installations are all expected to be completed by Oct. 27.
The new charging stations are intended to support both county employees and the general public, while also accommodating an increasing number of electric vehicles in the county’s own fleet, the project page says.
The county has more than 100 Level 2 charging ports at its facilities, including at community centers, office buildings and parking garages. Community members can use those stations on a first-come, first-served basis for a fee.
Under an Operational Energy Strategy last updated in June 2021, the county set 2035 as the target date for completing a phase-out of gas and diesel-powered vehicles in favor of a fully electric or hybrid-electric fleet.
Some progress has been made, with about 13% of the county-owned fleet, including Fairfax Connector buses, now powered at least partly by electricity. However, based on a consulting study released last November, staff determined that the 2035 goal won’t be achievable due to a lack of supply for many vehicles that the county needs and reduced support for EVs from the federal government.
At an environmental committee meeting, county staff told the Board of Supervisors that the fleet had 76 fully electric vehicles and 440 hybrid vehicles, including school buses. The study by the consulting firm AECOM predicted that a full, cost-effective transition won’t be feasible until 2050.
