Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Unveiled At Clark
Political and education notables yesterday celebrated the introduction of several electric vehicle charging stations at three college campuses in Worcester as examples of a "revolution" taking place in energy consumption.
"The revolution is a slow thing," said state energy secretary Richard Sullivan. But "that revolution is starting to happen."
Sullivan and others spoke to a group of about 100 inside the Lasry Center for Biosciences at Clark University, whose parking lot includes one of 10 such stations around Central Massachusetts that are either available for public use or will soon be available. (Clark has a second station located in the parking lot outside the Downing Administration Building.) The Institute for Energy & Sustainability, a non-profit housed at Clark, received a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to install the stations. They are among more than 150 awarded to more than 20 cities and towns in the state. Other stations will be located at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and Quinsigamond Community College. WPI President Dennis Berkey, who was also at the Clark event, said stations on his campus will be introduced Thursday.
The stations, manufactured by California-based Coulomb Technologies, are called ChargePoint portals. A driver of an electric vehicle can simply pull up to one of the parking-meter-like units and, for $3.50 per hour of charge, plug in and drive about 100 miles before having to charge up again. Contrast that with paying about $3.75 per gallon of gasoline today, which can be consumed after about 30 miles of driving.
The stations are part of the firm's international ChargePoint Network that helps online users locate stations within an electric vehicle's mileage range, generally 100 miles per charge.
The stations are also part of National Grid's "smart grid" program with the City of Worcester. "The roll-out of EV charging stations across the state is just another avenue through which we can reinforce our commitment to educating customers about energy efficiency technologies and sustainable energy options," said Ed White, the utility's vice president of customer and business strategy.
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