Normally, stations are pricey. The current station in Kellogg Center’s parking ramp cost about $5,000, but was paid for by a $750,000 appropriation from the Department of Energy. Thankfully, the city will use that same appropriation to fund the two potential charging stations.

The city will be paying for the cost of electricity from the new stations, but Tim Schmitt, a community development analyst with East Lansing, said it costs less than a dollar to charge a Chevy Volt for about eight hours.

Two more car stations also will help the East Lansing environment. Traditional cars emit greenhouse gases into the air, and if more people are looking to purchase electric cars, the amount of harmful gasses released in the environment will decrease.

The new stations won’t provide a financial burden to the city, and they will play a role in improving the environment. Overall, the plan is a win-win situation.

The demand for stations might not be high right now, but that could be a result of the lack of car-charging stations in the city.

Most people will not go out of their way to find an electric car charging station, especially when there are gas stations every few blocks in East Lansing. Also, when making car purchases, many people assume having to search for a charging station would make owning an electric car an inconvenience, regardless of the environmental implications of gas-run vehicles.

With two more stations, along with MSU’s addition of four charging stations on the east end of Lot 79 near Spartan Stadium and Central Services in January and the station at Kellogg, people will no longer have to worry about going out of their way to charge electric cars.

The two new stations would be located in the parking lot of East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Road, and possibly in one of the city’s parking ramps. Electric car charging stations are popping up all over East Lansing, essentially covering every end of the city.

Hopefully this will begin a domino effect of people purchasing electric cars because of the convenient stations all over East Lansing.

Also, as environmental health becomes more of a concern, electric cars will rise in popularity. When that day comes, the city of East Lansing already will be ahead of the pack.

If the city sees through with the installation of these two electric car charging stations, it would be beneficial to current electric car owners, those looking to purchase electric cars and the environment without being a large cost to the city.

These stations ultimately make East Lansing a greener place to be.