Drivers can charge electric cars on campus

AACC+offers+nine+electric+charge+stations.+Students%2C+faculty+and+staff+can+charge+their+electric+vehicles+at+Annex+B%2C+the+Careers+Center+and+Parking+Lot+M+near+the+Health+and+Life+Sciences+building.

Frank Fitzgeralde Libom

AACC offers nine electric charge stations. Students, faculty and staff can charge their electric vehicles at Annex B, the Careers Center and Parking Lot M near the Health and Life Sciences building.

Dan Elson, Editor-in-Chief

Students and employees who drive electric vehicles can charge them at Annex B, the Careers Center and Parking Lot M near the Health and Life Sciences building.

AACC offers nine electric car charging stations on the Arnold campus. 

Larry Gregory, director of facilities maintenance and operations, said more electric vehicles are on campus compared to 2020.

“I think it’s good for us,” Gregory said. “It provides service. There are definitely individuals out there that have electric vehicles, and that’s what we’re here to do, to provide customer support to people for their needs. So we try to do it for all the faculty, staff and students.”

Gregory said the college installed the charging stations eight to nine years ago. 

An average electric vehicle takes up to eight hours to fully charge. Drivers pay $1 per hour to use the charging stations, which only accept credit cards. 

Out of one charge, Gregory said some electric cars can operate for 500 miles.  

He said charging an electric car and putting gas in a vehicle is a similar process. Instead of pumping gas into the car, the driver plugs it into an outlet. 

Gregory said it’s important for drivers to choose electric cars over gas. 

“[We] absolutely [need to] work away from fossil fuels,” Gregory said. “Just because of the sustainability and also the impact to the environment. We can’t continue with fossil fuels. There’s going to have to be a transition.”

The college has a subscription with SemaConnect which owns the charging stations. AACC pays $240 a year for each station, Gregory said.