TOLEDO, Ohio —
The University of Toledo is becoming a little greener with six new electric vehicle charging stations added to the campus.
The charging stations went online in October and are available 24/7.
The charging stations were made possible after the university was awarded a $90,000 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency as well as through funds from the university's energy-saving program.
Charging stations have been on campus since the early 2000s, but the university has seen an increase in demand as electric vehicles become more popular.
"We're responding to our students by meeting some of their requests to increase our greener initiatives here on campus," Senior Associate Vice President for Administration Jason Toth said. "I think it's very important that we are a higher education institution and we think about the students that we are educating for the future and for tomorrow that we are setting a good example by leading the way and doing these types of initiatives."
Each charging station can charge two vehicles at the same time and can fully charge a vehicle in about four hours.
The stations are run by an app called ChargePoint, where anyone can pay for their vehicle to be charged directly from the station. In order to pay to park in an EV charging station spot, drivers must also have a permit from the university to park in the lot.
The app collects data from the stations and records how much the station is used and provides information if there is a greater demand for the charging spots and how to improve for the future.
The cost of the space is $0.028 per minute and $1.10 per hour. The app notifies the owner of the vehicle once the car is fully charged, and advises the driver to move their vehicle once charged to avoid extra fees.
Non-electric vehicles that park in the EV charging stations run the risk of getting a citation from the university's parking enforcement and the possibility of being towed.
There are 12 spots to park around campus to get your vehicle charged on Main Campus:
Four lots in parking area 2 near the intersection of North Towerview Boulevard and Bancroft Street.
Four lots in parking area 20 in front of the Nitschke Technology Commercialization Complex.
Two lots in parking area 25 near Rocket Hall off Secor Road.
Two lots in parking area 31 next to the Plant Operations building off of Dorr Street.