The Insider: Is there a place to charge my car?
Russell Currey planned ahead before driving his family to New Orleans from Atlanta to visit his daughter Anna, a rising sophomore at Tulane University, during spring break. Lodging? ... check. Dining? ... check. A place to charge his electric car? ... uh-oh.
Located on the first floor of the Diboll parking garage on the uptown campus, its installation was courtesy of the Entergy ChargePoint Charging Station Program, which awarded 16 colleges and universities within the Entergy service area with one free charging station and complimentary maintenance for a period of five years.
While carefully mapping out his 474-mile route to New Orleans, Currey used the PlugShare website to find charging stations along the way. Here, he found Tulane's station.
“I was thrilled to see there was a station right there on campus,” says Currey. “I called Liz Davey in the Office of Environmental Affairs and she welcomed my oddball request to use the school's charger during my visit.”
Currey was the first person to use the new station.
“We were wondering who might use it first,” recalls Davey. “Would it be a student bringing a car to campus, a faculty member commuting or a university vehicle?”
Despite the additional planning required, Currey believes electric vehicles may ultimately be more reliable and require less maintenance for their owners, even as they reduce the emission of harmful pollutants and help decrease the country's foreign oil dependency.
Anyone wishing to use the station must follow the parking permit rules for the Diboll parking garage, says Davey. The parking spot is metered 24 hours a day to encourage users to move their cars shortly after charging completes. A Tulane parking permit is also required Monday-Friday between 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
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