Savannah-Hilton Head airport officials have installed two charging stations for electric vehicles parked at the airport. The stations will accommodate drivers of Chevy Volts and other vehicles that run on electricity.

They can each charge two cars simultaneously. Passengers will use the valet parking service so that airport personnel can move the cars after charging is complete.

Savannah-Hilton Head airport director Patrick Graham says customers have been asking for the charging stations.

But he says the move reflects the airport’s wider sustainability plan, which includes recycling and other green efforts.

“We recycle everything here that you can imagine," he said. "All the cardboard, all the papers that come off the planes. We have recycling units all around the terminal that can be used by employees, passengers, tenants.”

The airport’s charging units bring the number of such stations in the Savannah area to five.

The Coastal City is one of several Georgia municipalities embracing alternative fuel technologies.

Tim Echols chairs the state’s Public Service Commission. He says other cities are adding compressed natural gas vehicles to their fleets.

"Thomasville, for example, is replacing some of their trash trucks with CNG trash trucks," he said in an interview. "So instead of the black sooty diesel coming out of trash trucks traveling around the city, it will be clean natural gas.”

Echols is holding events in Thomasville and five other Georgia cities in June to showcase these efforts.

Tags: electric cars, Chevy Volt, Savannah-Hilton Head Airport, electric charging stations