The Town of Chapel Hill announced it will begin charging a minor fee at its public electric vehicle charging stations this month, ending the free service of supply to EV drivers. A release by the local government on Thursday said starting Monday, August 12, most of the town-owned stations will charge users 20 cents for each kilowatt hour, as well as processing fees. Additionally, a $1 hourly fee will be charged to users who do not move their vehicle within 30 minutes of it reaching full charge. According to an email sent to the town’s elected officials, Town Manager Chris Blue said the “dwell-time fee” is a common practice used to help turn over the charging ports and parking spots to other EV drivers. The town said in its announcement to the community on Thursday the fees are being implemented to help cover the costs of the energy, vendor fees, and maintenance of the charging stations. Presently, the local government owns and operates 40 charging stations — 36 of which have the t...