How many EV chargers should RDU’s largest parking lot have? None are planned now
Raleigh-Durham International Airport is adding 7,000 spaces to its largest remote parking lot, and as it stands now, none of them will have chargers for electric vehicles.
That doesn’t seem right to members of the airport’s governing board. The number of electric vehicles registered in the state has doubled in the last two years, to more than 100,000. To nearly triple the size of RDU’s Park Economy 3 without including any EV chargers doesn’t make sense, several board members said this week.
“I’m wondering how did we miss adding this important component to the project,” said Tammie Hall-Roberts, who represents the city of Durham on the Airport Authority board.
More than a year into construction, frustrated board members asked airport staff to come up with an EV plan for the lot within 90 days.
Nina Szlosberg-Landis, who represents Raleigh on the board and has agitated for EV accommodations from the beginning, said the plan should include both slow chargers in the lot and fast chargers outside the gate where people can juice up before they leave the airport.
Mike Landguth, the airport’s president and CEO, asked how many chargers board members would like to see.
“My suggestion would be for you guys to come up with a proposal and let us review it,” Szlosberg-Landis replied.
David Kushner, who represents Wake County on the board, said he thinks one section of the lot should be dedicated to EVs, with at least 100 charging spots.
In a lot that will have space for nearly 11,000 cars, Kushner said, “One hundred spaces is not too many to have EV chargers.”
The request for EV chargers came Thursday as the board approved contracts to overhaul the existing 3,820-space Park Economy 3 lot and to construct a building with public restrooms and offices for security and maintenance workers and equipment. The entire project, including the 7,000 new spaces, is expected to cost $164 million.
Now better than later, board members say
Two companies have approached RDU about possibly installing charging stations in or just outside the lot, said David Freedman, the airport’s chief revenue officer.
“So we’re continuing to explore some options there,” Freedman told the board. “We’ll come back to the board when we have more information.”
That wasn’t enough for board members, who asked for a concrete plan. Szlosberg-Landis said it will likely be cheaper to include the wiring and other infrastructure needed for chargers when the lot is built.
“If we have to go back and retrofit later on, to put in 50 chargers or 100 chargers, whatever that might be, that will be on our dime, and it will be a greater expense,” she said. “That’s why we brought it up in the first place, why we want to embed it into the construction.”
The expansion of Park Economy 3 is needed in part to keep up with growing demand for parking. Including three remote lots and the decks between the terminals, the airport now has about 18,900 parking spaces. It expects to need more than 21,800 spaces in 2026 and between 24,825 and 28,734 by 2033, Bill Sandifer, RDU’s chief development officer, told board members last year.
The larger remote lot will also help make up for the planned loss of parking spaces elsewhere at the airport. RDU expects to demolish two small parking decks near Terminal 2 in the coming year to begin expanding the terminal building and realign John Brantley Boulevard. Along with nearby surface lots, the airport will lose about 3,055 spaces near the terminal.
Longer term, RDU plans to close its Park Economy 4 lot off International Drive. That surface lot, with 3,300 spaces, is needed for expansion of the air cargo operations at the north end of the airfield, Sandifer said.
The majority of the new spaces in Park Economy 3 — about 6,000 of them — are expected to open next summer.
This story was originally published November 22, 2024 at 1:49 PM with the headline "How many EV chargers should RDU’s largest parking lot have? None are planned now."
