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Committee hears consultant on EV charging options for city garages
Summary
An engineering consultant briefed the committee on technical options, costs, business models and next steps for electric vehicle charging in Birmingham City garages; staff will supply garage-by-garage capacity assessments and a grant list for next steps.
The committee on [date not specified in transcript] heard a presentation from Eric Rettinger, an electrical engineer with Peter Basso Associates, on options for installing electric-vehicle (EV) chargers in the city's parking garages.
Rettinger said municipalities most commonly install level 2 chargers for public and workplace use and described level 1, level 2 and DC fast chargers as the three technical categories. “Level 2 is typically what most municipalities are installing,” he said, adding that DC fast chargers are much more expensive and usually deployed along freeway corridors.
The presentation focused on siting, costs and business models. Rettinger told the committee that installation costs for a level 2 charging unit typically range between about $5,000 and $10,000 per pedestal, depending on existing power availability and conduit runs. He said many installations use power-sharing systems so multiple ports can draw from the same service and the system can dynamically allocate amperage to vehicles that are actively charging.
Committee members and staff discussed local needs and likely usage patterns. Rettinger and staff emphasized that garages with substantial overnight parking (Chester and Pierce were identified) are promising locations because they serve both all‑day workers and residents who lack at‑home charging. “If you can locate them near apartments and condos, then you can get that nighttime usage of people charging their cars overnight,” Rettinger said.
On standards and compatibility, Rettinger said the current common connector is J1772 but that many manufacturers and networks are migrating to the North American Charging Standard (NACS) and that adapters are commonly used. He warned the committee there is a tradeoff between installing only the newest connector (which could strand older vehicles without adapters) and supporting multiple connector types.
The consultant outlined three common business models discussed elsewhere and in prior proposals: (1) the city purchases and owns equipment and applies for grants to offset capital costs; (2) a private provider installs equipment under a long lease and pays the city a revenue share; or (3) hybrid approaches where the city owns some infrastructure and leases sites for private operation. Rettinger said some utilities and grant programs (MDOT and DTE programs were cited) have provided incentives; he noted DTE offered a per‑station incentive in 2024 and that grant programs change year to year.
Committee members pressed on operations and safety. Rettinger described typical maintenance arrangements and said many vendors provide remote diagnostics and service contracts; physical repairs can be handled by local electricians or network technicians. He also said fire departments should be engaged early because EV fires are less frequent but harder to extinguish; the consultant said he had earlier coordination with Birmingham Fire when the city reviewed a prior revenue‑share proposal.
Aaron (staff) told the committee the parking division has already asked the consultant to provide a garage‑by‑garage capacity assessment and noted that the consultant’s earlier work considered roughly 16–20 chargers per garage as a planning baseline. “We were more in the, like, 16 to 20 range,” Aaron said of prior capacity studies; Rettinger confirmed that the firm will deliver capacity and scaling guidance and recommended planning conduit runs now where surface or repaving work is planned to reduce future retrofit costs.
No formal action to install chargers was taken. Committee members asked staff to return with the capacity assessments, examples of grant programs, and high‑level cost estimates for incremental deployment (pilot of a small number of chargers with room to scale). Rettinger said a pilot approach — installing a few chargers in different environments and tracking utilization — is a common and prudent path.
Ending: The committee thanked the presenter and directed staff to follow up with the consultant’s garage capacity assessments and a list of grants and vendor options for a future meeting.
