UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — More and more electric vehicles are hitting roadways across the country, and now there’s a place for them to park and plug on Penn State's University Park campus.
Transportation Services, in collaboration with the Office of Physical Plant, recently added three electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the Nittany Parking Deck. Located on the west side of the ground level, these stations are open to everyone and can accommodate up to five vehicles at a time, with one station available only to electric vehicles displaying a valid ADA parking placard or license plate.
While the Office of Physical Plant has been using electric vehicles on campus for several years, the Nittany Deck stations are the first on campus to be available to the public.
The EV charging stations are managed by ChargePoint, the world’s largest EV charging network with more than 47,000 charging spots worldwide. To use the station, drivers simply download the ChargePoint mobile app and sign up for a free ChargePoint account. Full details on how to access EV charging stations through ChargePoint can be found at the ChargePoint website.
In addition to station usage fees, during reserved hours users must have a valid parking permit, pay a $1 per hour parking fee, or have their entry ticket validated if visiting the Nittany Lion Inn.
To ensure that access is available to as many users as possible, vehicles using the charging stations must be moved to a regular, nonreserved parking space within the Nittany Deck or exit the deck when fully charged.
Rob DeMayo, director of Transportation Services, hopes that additional EV stations can be installed across campus in the future.
“We’ve been working for several years to bring public-use EV charging stations to campus, as they’ve been one of the most frequently requested services,” he said. “We’re excited to add another service that supports a sustainable mode of transportation that is only likely to increase in popularity in the years to come.”