Last winter there was a big hubbub over an Algiers Point resident being ordered by the city to remove his electric car charger, which was installed on the curb outside his house. But now, City Council is working to support some changes that would make owning an electric car in New Orleans a whole lot easier.
The Advocate reports that City Council last week took several steps to promote electric car use, including passing an ordinance to recomend City Planning Commission not penalize developers for including charging stations (currently, developers are not allowed to count a space with an electric charging station among a project’s required parking spaces).
The council also urged the mayor’s administration to consider adding chargers to sideways and curbs—which would have helped avoid the Algiers Point kerfuffle—and to possibly add electric cars to the city’s fleet.
However, some think the city could go further. Vlad Ghelase, that famous Algiers Point resident, says he thinks the city needs to focus on working quickly to change the rules that keep electric car owners from installing chargers outside their homes—especially in a city when many residents don't have driveways.
"This is the biggest barrier, in our opinion ... Nobody’s going to buy an electric car if they can’t charge it."