Derek Slap

West Hartford Receiving Funds for Electric Vehicle Purchases, Charging Station at Town Hall

West Hartford will receive funds to support the purchase of the town’s first electric vehicles and the installation of a charging station at Town Hall for public use, becoming one of ten communities receiving transportation funding through a program seeking to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions statewide. The Department of Transportation will issue the funds, which are funded by the Federal Highway Administration’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program, which focuses on local cost-effective projects seeking to improve air quality in towns and cities.

“It’s encouraging that West Hartford will receive support benefitting electric vehicles and reducing local air pollution,” said State Senator Derek Slap (D-West Hartford). “This investment in local services will help the town acquire its first electric vehicles and make it easier for any resident with an electric vehicle to charge and go in the center of town. I’m grateful to the Department of Transportation and the Governor for supporting our community.”

“West Hartford recently adopted a climate change resolution that will impact all future Town actions in an effort to achieve net-zero carbon emissions as quickly as practicable,” said Mayor Shari Cantor. “We are thankful for Governor Lamont’s investment in West Hartford’s goals to improve our air quality by helping us fund our first EV vehicle and expand our public charging stations.”

“We appreciate the Governor’s support to help further our work in improving air quality through the use of EV vehicles and charging stations,” said acting Town Manager Rick Ledwith. “The timing is perfectly aligned with the Town Council’s recent action to improve air quality through the implementation of projects, practices and policies that eliminate or counteract the emission of greenhouse gases.”

West Hartford will receive $20,952 to support the purchase of town-owned electric vehicles and the installation of the Town Hall charging station. The funds are part of an effort to reduce transportation emissions, the largest contributor to Connecticut’s greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for more than two-thirds of air pollution in Connecticut.