NORWALK — The city will receive $179,400 to install new electric car chargers in four parking garages in Norwalk, using part of $6 million in settlement funds released by the state.
The funds came from Volkswagen Corp., which settled a federal civil enforcement case for violating the Clear Air Act by installing emissions test cheating software in approximately 590,000 Audi, Porsche and VW diesel vehicles sold in the United States — approximately 12,000 of them in Connecticut.
Connecticut was allocated more than $55.7 million to be distributed over a 10-year period for use toward offsetting the excess NOx pollution emitted in the state by those vehicles.
The funds were administered by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and will be used to install electric vehicle supply equipment in over 50 projects across Connecticut, Gov. Ned Lamont announced Tuesday.
With the settlement funds and a $96,600 cost share from Norwalk, 24 electric vehicle chargers will be installed in four garages in the city. They will be single-port wall-mounted chargers.
The chargers will be located in the Maritime Garage at 23 Marshall St.; the westbound South Norwalk Railroad Station garage at Monroe Street and State Street; the eastbound South Norwalk Railroad Station on Monroe Street; and the Yankee Doodle Garage at 3 Burnell Blvd.
These chargers will be in addition to the city’s first EV charger at Fodor Farm, according to Mayor Harry Rilling.
The chargers will contribute to the city’s environmental efforts, Rilling said.
“In addition to the city’s existing electric vehicles, we recently converted the majority of our fleet to hybrid and approved the purchase of 10 hybrid vehicles for the Norwalk Police Department,” he said. “All of these projects will have long-lasting benefits to the community and are imperative as we continue to address climate change.”
The transportation sector is responsible for approximately 70 percent of smog-forming air pollution and 40 percent of climate pollution in Connecticut, DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. “Expanding the availability of charging infrastructure around the state is critical to scaling up EV adoption,” she said.
With the $6 million of this funding round, a total of $35 million of Connecticut’s VW settlement funding has been awarded to support more than 100 clean air projects statewide.
The grants will also fund the installation of car chargers at offices for the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles at eight location across the state, at 18 locations of Connecticut state colleges and universities, at three garages at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington and at the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs.