UWG welcomes Electric Automobiles

Since the addition of The Carrollton Greenbelt, the University of West Georgia has been creating quite the eco-friendly campus. To pair with the recently constructed trail, University administration has been in conversation of implementing a bike rental program. And now, the latest addition in the series of “green” upgrades is the installation of the ChargePoint station in the TLC building’s parking lot.

ChargePoint is an electric vehicle (EV) charging station that provides energy to a handful of automobile models. Their electric vehicle partners include BMW, Nissan, GM, Volkswagen and an expanding list of electric car manufactures. For an extended list of electric car partners visit the ChargePoint.com or open their brochure.

The focus of ChargePoint – to provide an alternative to fossil fuels – is their saving grace. Though it will take time for the market shift to take place, it seems to be flourishing in the face of adversity.

With over 182 million gas-free-miles driven, electric car users can be assured that this experiment is only growing. There are currently 20,914 places to charge your electric vehicle using ChargePoint, according to the company’s website.

“Currently the number two and three spots are the Coliseum and there is a plan for an area near Melson and Cobb Hall, near front campus,” Lambert explained. “But we may still make changes to the Melson and Cobb Hall location.”

ChargePoint is also in the process of expanding to the home market, a maneuver that fossil fuels simply cannot compete with. ChargePoint claims that its home version of the service is the world’s most advance EV charging station for the home. The home station come equipped with its own mobile app, which users can employ to assist with scheduling charging. This feature is an all-encompassing tool—helping the user, start, stop, track and manage charging activity.

Their tagline, “We’re everywhere life happens,” rings true, as they have now expanded onto school campuses.

Seth Lambert, Project Manager at planning and construction services, helped bring this plan to life and now a tool all students can enjoy.

“We started this project a little before October,” Lambert said. “We had a planning committee help us designate some locations around campus and then we narrowed it down with several factors in mind from about 10 or 11 areas to only 3. Ultimately, the TLC was our number one spot.”

At the moment, mostly faculty members are employing the use of the lone charging station; however, should the demand for usage of this charging station increase, there are plans to begin construction for another location.

“Currently the number two and three spots are the Coliseum and there is a plan for an area near Melson and Cobb Hall, on front campus,” Lambert explained.

Other benefits of this expanding trend are ones regarding health. We all know by now that fossil fuels are not the best as far as byproducts of its usage are concerned. Arsenic, mercury, oil vapors and methane, are just a few of the problematic chemicals involved in health risks.

The one obstacle that Lambert anticipates will be the most difficult to hurdle is costs. Though it is only 90 cents an hour to charge your EV, the actual vehicle is another story.

“Now the prices are beginning to come down, the cheapest vehicle is the Nissan Leaf, which we use for our business, but on the whole, it is a bit expensive to own an electric vehicle,” Lambert said. “But it begins with getting the word out there; students and faculty must know that they have this option in order to explore it.”

Erin

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