By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Marion city councilmen got an up-close look at two new charging stations for electric cars Monday.

The chargers, at the west edge of the Historic Elgin Hotel parking lot, have already been used for an electric car owned by Kansas Power Pool.

The car, in town for the weekend and driven in the Holly Jolly Christmas parade by council member Chris Costello, took only a short time to recharge after it was driven from Wichita to Marion.

City administrator Roger Holter demonstrated how the charger connects to a panel at the front of the car.

The charger attachment looks similar to the nozzle end of a gasoline pump and plugs into a port beneath the front edge of the hood of the car.

Council members were intrigued.

The city doesn’t charge for electricity to charge cars.

The car battery was less than a third low, so it took only minutes to charge it Monday.

The car used only 27 cents worth of electricity when it was charged after the drive from Wichita, Holter said.

The car will travel 222 miles on a fully-charged battery.

A low battery would require about four hours to fully charge.

The charger stations have an on/off switch and are kept live for drivers to use.

Holter test drove the 2019 Nissan Leaf after council members looked it over. It went from 30 to 60 mph in seven seconds.