Car charging station at Union Station

New Haven, Conn. (WTNH) - Electric car drivers now have a new place to charge up at Union Station in New Haven.

United Illuminating will also be installing other stations at the Temple Street Garage and Yale-New Haven Hospital.

"Consumers are going to see the charging station, see that they actually can their electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle they can plug in and get it charged while they are commuting. So I think those are good benefits for them," said James Torgerson, President/CEO, UI.

"More electric vehicles are being offered by the automakers, and I think as gas frankly, right, four dollars, five dollars, you are going to see a huge explosion of this," said New Haven Mayor John DeStefano.

The parking garage charging systems are made by a company in Enfield. They say electric cars are cheaper to run, easier to maintain, better for the earth and a lot more of them are coming.

"A commuter trip from Enfield to Hartford, you can get about 145 miles per gallon, just on a combination between the gas engine and the lithium battery pack," said Dan Shanahan, Control Module Industries.

Under the partnership between the city and UI, the electric car charging is free. UI is doing it as a test to see how electric car charging might work on a much bigger scale.