Seattle plans 200 curbside EV chargers by 2030

Seattle’s Department of Transportation and City Light have announced plans to put 200 public curbside Level‑2 electric‑vehicle chargers on residential streets by 2030. The chargers are meant to give residents of the city’s apartments and condos, which make up more than half of Seattle homes and mostly lack off‑street parking, a convenient way to charge while parked near home. The plan follows a 2023–2024 pilot that installed 58 chargers at 31 sites and saw 45,000 uses over the past year.

How Residents Can Suggest Spots

Residents can submit applications for new charger locations via the City Light website until fall 2027. The submissions will be evaluated with priority given to areas that lack existing curbside charging, to spots near multifamily housing, businesses and parks that have higher walkability scores, and to communities that have experienced pollution and historical underinvestment. The city intends to add chargers in batches of 40–50, with installation decisions made on a rolling basis.

Funding for the project comes from Seattle’s $1.55 billion transportation levy approved in 2024. Of the $32 million allocated to electrification, about $21 million will fund the 200 chargers and City Light will contribute an additional $2 million. The chargers will operate at a tariff of $0.21 per kilowatt‑hour, close to the off‑peak DC fast‑charging rate of $0.22. Installation is expected to take roughly two weeks per site, with site design and permitting starting in spring 2027 and construction beginning in fall 2027, so all chargers should be operational by 2030.

The rollout is part of a broader trend in U.S. cities adopting curbside Level‑2 charging to make electric‑vehicle ownership practical for apartment residents and to support a wider shift toward sustainable transportation. Seattle joins cities such as New York, Detroit and San Francisco in expanding such infrastructure in residential neighborhoods.