The first fast chargers for electric vehicles have been installed in downtown Albany at the city-owned Quackenbush public parking garage.

The garage, at 25 Orange St., was selected as an EVolve NY site because of its proximity to the New York Thruway and its urban setting, according to a Nov. 1 release from the governor’s office.

Chargers come in three levels. Level 1 equipment, according to Car and Driver, plugs into a typical household 120-volt outlet and is often included with the purchase of an EV, but won’t get you very far: An hour of charging will take you two to four miles.

The state’s Thruway Authority reports there are 21 Level 2 charging stations at 11 hubs along the Thruway. Level 2 stations provide 12 to 32 miles of driving for each hour charged.

Level 3 covers a range of 100 to 250 miles after 30 to 45 minutes of charging. Unlike the first two levels, Car and Driver explains, Level 3 setups connect to the vehicle by way of a socket with additional pins for handling a higher voltage, typically 400 or 800 volts. The Thruway has 33 Level 3 charging stations at 15 charging hubs.

Four Level 3 chargers have joined nine Level 2 chargers among the 879 parking spots in the Quackenbush Square garage. Drivers are required to pay a parking fee to enter the garage.

EVolve NY Direct Current Fast Chargers can charge most of the battery capacity in any make or model of EV in as little as 20 minutes, according to the Nov. 1 release. The Quackenbush hub, on the Electrify America network, is equipped with one combined charging system (CCS) charger rated at up to 350 kW and three chargers rated at up to 150kW.

Two of them offer the CHAdeMO connector and there’s a CCS-to-Tesla adapter that the New York Power Authority installed for Tesla owners. This particular hub is one of several EVolve NY sites to have incorporated the built-in adapter.

Two years ago, the Albany Parking Authority joined the Power Authority and the city of Albany officials to unveil 11 new Level 2 charging stations in all three Albany Parking Authority garages downtown — the Riverfront, Green-Hudson, and Quackenbush garages.

The New York Power Authority has nearly 150 charging ports at 38 sites along statewide major travel corridors, the Nov. 1 release said.

EV owners may locate public chargers using smartphone apps such as Shell Recharge, Electrify America, PlugShare, ChargeHub, ChargeWay, EV Connect, ChargePoint, EVGo, Google Maps, or the United States Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center.

EVolve chargers operate on the Electrify America and Shell Recharge networks. Credit cards are accepted to charge; no subscription or membership is needed.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer