Electric Cars Get a Charge at SUNY Purchase

PURCHASE, N.Y. –Two electric vehicle recharging stations available to the public have opened on the campus of SUNY Purchase.

SUNY Purchase College’s Office of Sustainability has opened the stations, which allow owners of Chevy Volts, Nissan Leafs or other electric vehicles to recharge their cars at a rate of $3.99 per hour. It usually takes about four hours to recharge, according to Joe Tripodi, director of sustainability at SUNY Purchase.

SUNY Purchase received a federal grant of about $15,000 that paid for the chargers and the school paid to have them installed. Coulomb Technologies units were installed.

The rechargers are located a few feet from the airport shuttle parking operation, which Tripodi said is a safe and secure area.

Owners of electric cars have access to a national database of recharging stations so they can search for locations on the vehicle’s GPS units and find the SUNY Purchase stations. The demand, however, has been slow so far.

“Folks may not be aware of us or they may have home charging stations and don’t need publicly located stations,” Tripodi said.

He’s proud of SUNY Purchase’s role in advancing the use of electric cars.

“SUNY Purchase is committed to sustainability and the responsible use of resources and recharging stations are representative of our commitment to the environment,” he said.

He also said the school is “ahead of the curve" on utilizing electric vehicles.

"Twelve to 18 months ago they were nowhere near where they are now," he said, "and a year from now there will be a lot more on the road ready for use.”

Westchester Chevy and Nissan dealers said they were unaware of any other recharging stations in the county. Premium Nissan in New Rochelle has one on the premises that can be used by Nissan Leaf owners.

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