While electric car charging ports have remained available on campus after Blink, the current provider, was bought by Car Charging Group Inc., the future of electric car chargers on campus is undecided.
In 2012, Blink introduced themselves to Georgia State as a promising way for the University to implement eco friendliness on campus by giving four electric charging stations to Georgia State free of charge. However, they made a few requests for the university.
“As part of the agreement, the University had to partially cover an initial installation fee, and allow the company to collect data usage information for research purposes,” Georgia State University Transportation Auxiliary and Support Services said in a press release.
A few users of the charging stations had complaints about Blink’s services.
“I’m disappointed. I wish I had better things to say,” Justin Cantrell, a PhD student in the Physics & Astronomy Department and Technology Coordinator for the department, said. “I wish they had asked for input from electric car users before purchasing Blink as I had clearly contacted Parking & Transportation about my electric vehicle usage over a year before the stations were installed.”
Cantrell said that the Blink charging stations on campus charge his electric vehicle to full charge in more than 8 hours, whereas at home it would have taken him 3.5 hours. He said Chargepoint, another electric car charging provider, would be a better option for Georgia State.
“I feel that with ChargePoint, the university could set the price of charging that would be more in line with costs of electricity, as opposed to a flat per hour fee that is not in line with the actual market cost of electricity.Blink also charges by the hour instead of the minute, which is not very user friendly,” Cantrell said. “I would like to be able to go unplug my car when it’s convenient for me instead of 1 hour blocks.”
Georgia State Transportation Auxiliary and Support Services said that whether or not more electric car charging ports will be added to campus is “dependent on the financial viability and demand of expansion, as well as the level of support offered by the selected vendor.”
Car Charging Group, Inc. currently owns Blink Network and related assets according to ECOtality. Blink car charging stations accept Blink cards and are still functioning.
Two electric charging station are located near the entrance of both G Deck and M Deck. To access the free Blink charging stations for electric car charging, students and faculty must display a Blink charging station card and have a parking permit for the semester. Also, if employees have a payroll deduction permit and show their blink charging station card, then they can park in Blink charging stations for free.
