LISTEN: Leaders in Union City celebrated World Electric Vehicle Day on Tuesday by cutting the ribbon on the city’s first public charging stations. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports.

A woman poses holding an electric car charging plug near the vehicle port

Union City Councilmember Christina Hobbs prepares to charge a car using the newly installed stations.

Credit: Amanda Andrews / GPB News

Leaders in Union City celebrated World Electric Vehicle Day on Tuesday by cutting the ribbon on the city’s first public charging stations.

Union City now has eight Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations. Funding for the project was approved under the Biden administration as part of a collaboration with Georgia Power. The utility program provides, installs and maintains chargers for municipalities.

Union City Mayor Vince Williams said it’s important for residents to have access to this technology.

“If we didn't do anything, we are doing a disservice to our community,” Williams said. “We got people in our community, people on our staff, many of our neighbors who already have EV vehicles. And they've been asking, you know, 'When are we going to have EV charging stations?' So we wanted to make sure we did that.”

Reggie Ward works with Georgia Power. He said they’re trying to get ahead of the growing demand for EVs.

“I think we're saying in 2050 over half the cars in the United States will be EVs,” Ward said. “We're just trying to again just stay ahead of the curve right because we don't want to be behind when there's more EVs than EV chargers, right? So we're just trying to help with that initiative.”

Union City's police and fire departments are also in the process of electrification and will have their own charging stations.

Tags: electric cars  EV chargers  EV  Georgia Power  Fulton County  EVs  Georgia