For visitors swinging by Kellogg Center in an electric car, charging their vehicle could be as easy as plugging it in, after the university opened a new $5,000 electric car charging station in the center’s parking ramp earlier this month.
Funding for the station — which sits on the ramp’s second floor — was secured through about $750,000 worth of appropriations given to the Lansing Board of Water and Light from the Department of Energy, said Angie Goodman, assistant project manager with the Lansing Board of Water and Light.
The organization then approached MSU with an idea to install various stations on-campus, Goodman said.
Kellogg’s station now is operational and will charge customers a $2.50 hourly rate to use the station, said Lynda Boomer, an energy and environmental engineer with the MSU Physical Plant.
“Anybody can use it,” Boomer said. “It’s truly a public charging station.”
Station outlets are able to accommodate a 208-volt car plug-in, which allows electric vehicles to charge in about half the standard time, Boomer said.
The university also is in the process of finalizing a contract and putting together an order with Coulomb Technologies, based in California, to install four additional electric car charging stations on the east end of Lot 79 near Spartan Stadium and Central Services, Boomer said.
The projected cost of those four stations is about $30,000, she said.
As of right now, Boomer said her department only knows of one MSU staff member who owns an electric car on campus — Matt Stehouwer, the technology manager for the College of Natural Science.
Stehouwer — who has owned a Chevy Volt since February of this year — said he does not plan to use Kellogg Center’s charging station, adding that his car can operate during the day without charging. He currently charges his car at home.
“I’ll keep doing what I’m doing.” he said. “The issue (with Kellogg’s charging station) is obviously how far (away) it is.”
Until earlier this year, Stehouwer was charging his car from the parking lot behind Giltner Hall, until he said the university asked him to stop because of a lack of charging infrastructure.
Stehouwer said he recognizes the university’s efforts to install additional charging stations, but cautioned campus sustainability officials looking to expand the program.
University sustainability officials should look to install charging stations in each of MSU’s five on-campus parking ramps, Stehouwer said.
“I wish the university would understand what the infrastructure means (in terms of installing electric car charging stations),” he said. “We’ve got to start somewhere.”
But some students don’t support MSU’s plans to add charging space for electric vehicles.
Social relations and policy sophomore Matt Opperman said he thinks demand for electric charging stations such as the one at Kellogg is minimal.
“Now, there (are) probably not enough electric cars on campus to support those stations,” he said.
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