After one year since the start of construction, electric vehicle chargers are open for use for faculty, staff, students and visitors in North Lot on Mount Carmel campus.
The chargers were installed as a part of the University’s strategic plan, which was created in May 2019.
Per Quinnipiac’s website, the strategic plan’s goal is to build the “University of the Future,” where the university “…prepares students for the 21st century.”
Quinnipiac chose ChargePoint as the vendor for the electric vehicle chargers. The company provides chargers for business and homes in North America and Europe. Their clients include IKEA and Best Western Hotels and Resorts.
The chargers are compatible with all electric cars, “…but Teslas need an adapter that we were told comes with the Tesla,” wrote Salvatore Filardi, Quinnipiac’s vice president for facilities and capital planning, in an email to The Chronicle.
Alexander Laskin, professor of public relations, drives a Tesla to campus. The car has a 330 mile range compared to his previous Nissan Leaf, which has a 140 mile range. “It is more than enough for a day and then it tops off overnight in the garage,” Laskin wrote in an email to The Chronicle.
Laskin did not see an official announcement that the chargers were available for use, but he saw them near the entrance of North Lot and decided to use them for the first time.
“I tried them but was surprised to see that our on campus chargers are quite expensive–30 cents per Kw (per hour),” Laskin wrote. “But it is good for campus visitors from far away who may need to add some miles while they tour the campus.”
The average cost to charge an electric car per household is 17.01 cents per hour, according to Kelly Blue Book.
“Several towns nearby have free chargers around us — Woodbridge, Cheshire, even one by Hamden Town Hall,” Laskin wrote. “Other towns have chargers at 15 cents per (kWh). So, I am unlikely to use the expensive chargers on our campus.”
Students who don’t have electric cars on campus feel that the chargers are too expensive.
“I feel like the whole point of adding them is to make (charging an electric car) more convenient for students,” said first-year health science major Riley Kruc. “But if you’re going to make it more expensive, it kind of defeats the purpose.”
As Quinnipiac looks for ways to become more sustainable, there are plans for more electric vehicle charges to increase.
“We are looking into installations on both the York Hill and North Haven campuses,” Filardi wrote.
The number of electric vehicles sold has increased in recent years. From 2022 to 2023, there was a 40% increase in electric cars, according to the International Energy Agency. As of 2023, one in five cars sold were electric vehicles.
Even though most students on campus don’t have electric cars, they still think it is important to have them on campus.
“I don’t think I know anyone that drives an electric vehicle,” said Sophia Carriero, a sophomore marking major. “I think it’s (still) helpful because even if I don’t know them, there are definitely people who need to charge their car.”
