CHLOE KOWALYK HUNTER HALTERMAN
Managing Editor Special to The Leader
ALEX ERWIN HEATHER OCCHINO
Staff Writer Special to The Leader
SUNY Fredonia is taking another step towards green energy and sustainability. The college has recently installed electric vehicle charging stations onto campus.
The chargers were installed in three different parking lots around campus: between Fenton and Thompson Halls, near Dods Hall, and by Gregory Hall and University Commons.
The chargers are open for use for anyone who drives an electric vehicle, including those in the community.
The new chargers were implemented by the Faculty Student Association (FSA).
FSA worked with a company called Chargepoint, allowing users to operate the charging stations directly through an app.
FSA director Darin Schulz believes some campus and community members will get use out of the chargers.
“As electric vehicles become more prevalent across the country,” he said. “We do expect some students and some faculty and staff to more readily utilize an electric vehicle to get to work, whether it’s a plug-in hybrid or whether it’s a full-electric.”
The campus electric vehicle chargers operate as a level two station, which means it typically takes a few hours to get a hybrid electric vehicle fully charged.
While waiting for vehicles to charge, Schulz hopes people will come into our campus Starbucks, bringing money into the campus.
Not only do the chargers help bring community members onto campus, the chargers also help serve SUNY Fredonia’s sustainability efforts.
“It’s just part of the overall solution to trying to reduce emissions and carbon footprint, while being able to provide services to students and faculty as well,” Schulz said.
Although FSA has high hopes for the use of the new chargers, some students were skeptical, citing the expensive prices of purchasing an electric vehicle, and the unlikeliness that many students would own an electric vehicle.
Lee Pye, a sophomore English major, was a little unsure how often the chargers would actually be used.
“I don’t think it’s worth it. I don’t think there’s going to be as many cars [as] you think that are going to be electric on campus,” they said.
The chargers are now in full operation.