Costa Rica’s 300-odd electric vehicle (EV) drivers have some welcome news with new charging stations coming to rural areas.

Two stations to join the grid will be located in the mountains south of San José along the Interamerican Highway: one in San Marcos de Tarrazú and the other in the vicinity of the Los Santos Wind Farm.

The recharge points are being built by the National Consortium of Electric Companies of Costa Rica (Conelectricas), which also said they plan to install nine more electric vehicle recharge stations. These are planned for upcoming months in San Carlos in the country’s northern-central region, Guanacaste in the north Pacific, and Zarcero, a small hill town west of San José.

 

To date the company has enabled charging stations in Ciudad Quesada, San Carlos and another in Bajo Rodríguez in San Ramón, Alajuela, which is along the route between San Ramón and La Fortuna-Arenal Volcano.

Earlier this month, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) announced plans to meet the growing expected demand for such recharge stations, said Rayner García, ICE consultant in Technology, Innovation and Intelligent Electrical Networks to La República, with 17 stations in the works.

The ultimate goal, said Garcia, is to have a recharge station every 80 kms throughout the country, so electric vehicle drivers can readily visit any point in the country with peace of mind. The country projects having at least 100,000 EVs in circulation by 2035.

A bill under consideration in the country’s legislature would give tax breaks and other incentives to EV purchasers, which authorities say will boost sales of the vehicles.