SMUD Installs 'Fast-Charging' Electric Vehicle Charging Station At Sacramento Airport

Electric vehicle owners can now charge their batteries more quickly while they wait to pick someone up at the Sacramento International Airport. 

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District has installed a new "fast-charging" station in the airport's "free waiting" area.

Laurie Slothower is with the airport.

"The most popular spots in the garage are these EV charging stations and those are level-two chargers," Slothower says. "This is a direct-current fast charger where you can top off your battery or fill in about half an hour."

She says the station accepts all major credit cards.

"If you're here to pick up a customer you can use and need to fill up. It's a public lot. It's open 24 hours a day. All that we ask is that you stay by your car while charging."

The airport has created two spaces for electric vehicles and a new charging station in its "free waiting" area.

Jonathon Tudor is with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which installed the unit.

"Basically what this is is a way to charge an electric vehicle's battery up to about 80 percent or more in about 20-25 minutes which is a fairly new technology. These are not particularly widespread yet and so SMUD is putting a lot of energy and resources into building this infrastructure out."

This is the third "fast-charging" station the utility has installed in Sacramento. More are planned for the train station downtown and the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op. The unit cost SMUD about $200,000. Th utility says it will typically cost between $15 and $20 to "fill up."