Charge for electricity instead of time at the EV stations
Right now all of the EV chargers on campus cost $1 per hour regardless of how much electricity is consumed. This is a complete ripoff because the actual cost of electricity is only $0.10-$0.15 cents per kWh.
For example, the battery in my PHEV has a 10kWh capacity, and it charges at 3.3 kW per hour, so if the stations billed by kWh, that would come to $0.50 per hour for a total of $1.50 for the 3 hours needed to fully recharge. But under the current system of $1/hour, the cost is double what it should be: in my case $3 instead of $1.50, if your car charges slower it’s closer to $4.
It’s no surprise why the stations are always empty. $4 per day ($20+ per week is a ripoff and makes it much cheaper to just buy gas). Since our school is environmentally focused, we should support electric driving for everyone instead of making it a privilege for those with enough money.
Also, it’s worth noting that ALL the stations used to be free last fall but the school ripped them out in 2022 and replaced them with the paid chargers. They claimed it was an “upgrade” but functionality-wise the new chargers are no better, the “upgrade” was just a way of making them paid. We need to find middle ground...