Walked the whole boardwalk in Atlantic City and counted 14 broken EV chargers

Took a trip down the shore last weekend, not for gambling but to see what the city actually looks like now. We parked at the far end near Gardner's Basin and walked the full stretch. Out of maybe 20 charging stations scattered around the lots and garages, 14 of them had tape over the screen or a bag tied around the plug. One had a sign saying parts on order since March. This is a beach town that gets millions of visitors a year, and we're supposed to be pushing electric cars. How are people supposed to make the switch when the infrastructure is just rotting? I get that salt air messes with electronics, I do concrete work and I've seen what that ocean humidity does to metal. But the city knew that when they installed them. Did they budget for maintenance or did they just slap them up for a grant photo op? I asked a guy running a souvenir shop and he said they've been like that since last summer. Has anyone else driven through a tourist spot and just been floored by how many chargers are dead, or is it just this bad in Jersey?

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mia_singh2423d ago

And actually, the salt air thing is only part of it. I read somewhere that AC installed a bunch of those chargers through a state grant back in 2021, and the grant only covered the units themselves, not the upkeep. The city said they'd handle maintenance, but they clearly didn't budget for it. It's like they got the photo op and then just walked away. I drove through Wildwood last August and saw the exact same thing, chargers with plastic bags taped over them. So it's not just Jersey, but it's definitely a pattern in shore towns that got free money and didn't think about what happens after.