Melrose Breaks New Ground By Looking Up With Elevated EV Chargers

MELROSE, MA — The city has broken new ground by looking up.

Melrose has become the first city on the East Coast — the only place outside of Los Angeles, in fact — to have pole-mounted electric vehicle chargers.

The city and National Grid unveiled the chargers in an unseasonably cold, windy event on the shores of one of the ponds at Mount Hood. But what the ribbon-cutting lacked in warmth it made up for with innovation.

"This program is just one small piece of how Melrose is and has been a true leader in sustainability," Mayor Paul Brodeur said in a release. "These installations are an important step in promoting EV adoption in our community, reducing vehicle emissions, and moving us closer to our NetZero 2050 goal."

National Grid will eventually install 16 chargers across the city by the middle of the summer; you can see the locations below. The city said there could be 20 EV chargers by fall. There are already groundbound EV stations at Bowden Park and behind Memorial hall.

The chargers are mounted 10 feet high on utility poles, making for easier logistical installations. They leverage electricity from the poles.

Customers will use an app to lower the charger to their vehicle.

The chargers are also meant to be attention-getters encouraging people to go electric.

"The hope is that as drivers see access to charging is easy around Melrose, they will choose an electric vehicle for their next car purchase," said Melrose Sustainability Manager Martha Grover. "And there’s a lot of interest in the concept from communities with high numbers of renters and others who don’t have garages and driveways to install a charger."

National Grid will gather information from the project to help influence future municipal partnerships across Massachusetts.

National Grid said transportation is the biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Electric vehicles are a key to getting Massachusetts to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Melrose this week is celebrating 10 years as a Green Community. Thursday was Earth Day, and the city has plans for other sustainability events throughout the month.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook