Montauk Tesla Charging Stations Get A Thumbs Up

East Hampton Town’s Energy Sustainability Committee has recommended that the town accept a pitch by Tesla to be allowed to install eight of its electric car charging stations in Montauk in exchange for also helping fund the installation of four universal charging stations.

If approved by the Town Board, the charging stations would be installed at the western end of the municipal parking lot on South Euclid Avenue. The parking spots with chargers would still be open to regular cars.

All 12 of the charging stations would be level 3 “fast” chargers that can provide a full charge in a little more than 30 minutes, according to the proposal that Tesla submitted to the town earlier this year in response to a request for proposals. Tesla and Electrify America were the only respondents to the RFP.

Tesla has said the project will cost it more than $1 million — though the Tesla chargers would be usable by Tesla owners only.

The company is partnering with Electrify America, a program set up as part of a $2 billion settlement between Volkswagen and the U.S. government over the fraudulent diesel emissions scandal.

“Charging stations are no longer a luxury item,” said Linda James, a member of the town’s Energy Sustainability Committee. “Gas stations as we know them today are facing obsolescence tomorrow. This RFP opens the door by continuing to demonstrate the town’s renewable energy goals and the urgency of climate change.”

Lauren Steinberg, an environmental analyst for the town’s Natural Resources Department, said that both types of chargers are illuminated and have the names of the two companies displayed on them.

The town already has a fleet of seven electric cars in its fleet but has no charging stations on public property in Montauk. There are charging stations at Town Hall and in the main municipal lot in Amagansett.

MICHAEL WRIGHT