Chargepoint Stations Have Arrived

By Melanie Stewart

Chargepoint stations are on campus and ready to be used!  These stations will charge personal electric vehicles (EV) faster than a standard outlet, with a full charge possible in 4 hours or less.

These stations are a product of a partnership with OPPD and with a grant from the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET) in coordination with the Nebraska Community Energy Alliance (NCEA).

There are 2 locations on campus:

1 station, 2 stalls in Lot 34 on Emile between Shackelford Hall and the Central Utility Plant

1 station, 2 stalls in Lot 21 by the entrance to the middle level of the Lauritzen Outpatient Center

The rate to charge is $0.50 for up to 4 hours daily.   After 4 hours the rate is $3 per hour.  Please limit the usage of the charging station to sessions no longer than 4 hours per day.  Failure to observe these restrictions may subject the vehicle to a violation, in addition to the higher hourly rate fee.    These stalls are for active charging parking only.  Once you are done charging, the vehicle must be moved to allow other users to access the EV Charging Station.  Both charging stations are available to students, colleagues, and the public.

To use a Chargepoint station you can sign up for free online at chargepoint.com.  Drivers can use a card Chargepoint issues to start a charging session, or use the free Chargepoint app, both of which are good at the nearly 110,000 Chargepoint stations.  Different Chargepoint stations may charge different amounts per hour.  Many more stations are available across the Omaha metro area and Nebraska.

Providing charging stations for electric vehicles is an important step in advancing electric vehicle use.  As efficiency goes up and OPPD increases the amount of renewable energy they provide, emissions will go down.  This is better for our local air quality, and our health.

NCEA provides monthly reports that show the cumulative amount of energy used from the Nebraska charging stations, the economic benefits, and the harmful emissions reduced as a result.  “It’s an impressive amount of emissions and we are excited to see our impact.” said Neal Buxcel, Director of Utilities and Electrical Operations.

Rebates on electric vehicle purchases are available from OPPD/NCEA, certain car dealers, and the federal government; details found here.