Morrisville State College adds charge to campus

Who said electric cars are a thing of the future? They are a vision of the present at Morrisville State.



The college recently installed a new ChargePoint EV Charging Station on campus as part of its ongoing alternate renewable energy efforts. The new addition, adds them to the map—the ChargePoint map.



Not all stations are open to the public, but Morrisville State’s charging station welcomes those traveling by electric vehicle to stop by campus and charge their vehicle.



ChargePoint is the world’s largest and most open EV charging network, adding more than 500 new charging ports every month. By simply tapping a ChargePoint access card or credit card, this open charging station will allow electric car owners to charge up in Morrisville, while their mobile app gives real-time data regarding their charging time, how much gas they have saved, or how much greenhouse gases they have saved.



Although the station, located on the west side of Charlton Hall, is new, Morrisville is no stranger to the electric car scene.



Associate Professor of Computer & Information Technologies, Greg Tyler, has been driving electric cars for years and has come to enjoy the perks of running electric. In 2009, Tyler converted a 1993 Ford Escort to an electric for a research project and never looked back.



Tyler was “attracted to [the electric car’s] simplicity compared to an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) car, their low cost of operation and maintenance, and the environmental benefits.” Prior to installation of the EV Charging Station, Tyler was unable to charge his vehicle on campus. Now he can charge while teaching classes, enabling him to take trips beyond his usual 15 minute commute home. Tyler was the first to plug into Morrisville’s new charging station and one of the first ever on campus to reap its benefits. By charging his Nissan Leaf for a short two hours, he saves .9 gallons of gas—the equivalent of approximately $3.



During its first month of use, the station has saved almost seven gallons of gasoline; offsetting nearly 50 pounds of greenhouse gas.



The cost to charge at a ChargePoint station varies; Morrisville’s charging station only costs $1 per hour to use, fifty cents less than the next closest ChargePoint charging station on the Colgate University campus in Hamilton, NY. Its two outlets provide the ability to reach up to six different parking spaces, making it easy to plug in.



The length of time needed to charge is dependent on a variety of variables including the car’s current charge, the terrain, the weather, and the driver’s driving style. For Tyler, a full charge is about six to seven hours, roughly $6-$7 using Morrisville’s station. A full charge allows him to drive upwards of 70 miles before his next charge, nearly two round trips from work and back to his home in Cazenovia, NY.



Every eight seconds across the world a driver connects to a ChargePoint station. By initiating over 6.3 billion charging sessions, ChargePoint drivers have saved more than 5.5 million gallons of gasoline, avoided 41 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, and have driven over 132 million gas-free miles.



Funding for Morrisville State’s EV Charging Station was provided by NYSERDA’s Leviton New YorkTM program. NYSERDA and Leviton may access data from the station to analyze usage and charging patterns, and determine the effectiveness of the infrastructure put in place to meet the needs of drivers of electric vehicles.