Courtesy of Metro

Union Station is slated to receive the new EV chargers this month.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Union Station will be one of the first of five Metro stops to receive new over the next two months. All of these stations will receive four chargers which can service a total of eight cars at one time.

that officials hope these station will "encourage EV drivers to combine public transportation with driving," allowing them to charge their cars while they use Metro to commute to work, run errands or explore the city.

According to a L.A. is on track to be a leader in the U.S. market for electric vehicles. Researchers predicted that by the end of 2020 Angelenos will have purchased roughly 229,000 electric cars -- with the Westside and the Wilshire Corridor having the greatest concentration of these EVs.

Paul Scott, a DTLA Nissan salesman who specializes in selling the electric car the Leaf, said that while many people buy plug-in hybrids (that run on gas and electricity), he is seeing an increasing number of customers going purely electric.

"There's a lot of people who never ever want to buy gasoline again," Scott told Blogdowntown last August. "The desire, the need, for fast-charging has grown quite a bit."

Metro's new EV chargers will be spread along Metro's lines, located at P2D in Union Station's underground parking structure along with locations at the Sierra Madre Villa Station, Willow Station in Long Beach, El Segundo Station and the Universal City Station. All stations should have the new chargers by the end of February.

Using the charging stations cost $1 per hour with a maximum of $3. EV drivers need to first Then you will receive a smart card that's linked to a credit card or PayPal account so all you have to do is swipe the card at the EV station. Metro can also text or email you when the car is fully charged.