Haverford installs a new electric car charging station

As students and faculty enter the Green Lot in front of  Wilson Hall, they may notice four new electric car charging stations. 

“That is where the industry is going, it’s all towards electric cars and conserving energy,” General Manager of Facilities Mr. Robert Wisler said. “We wanted to stay up with what everybody else was doing. There were more and more teachers and staff and maybe even students that have hybrid or electric cars. It just made sense.”

Former Chief Financial Officer Mr. David Gold originally began the process of getting these chargers in the parking lot, but it was a communal effort to get them installed.

“The school doesn’t do things in a vacuum,” Mr. Wisler said. “It was a collective thought process and decision from [Headmaster Mr. Tyler Casertano] to the actual, physical installation.”

The process of installing the chargers started in the summer, right after graduation. 

“We had to do the complete installation,” Mr. Wisler said, “Our electrician, Charles Dougherty, ran the wires. We also had to cut the parking lot and bury the wires, all up to code.”

If needed, we have the ability to expand if it is popular and people are competing for the stations.

Mr. Robert Wisler

The installation process is still ongoing, as the chargers still need to be hooked up to electricity, but all of the infrastructures are in place. The system is also modular, meaning that more charging stations can be added easily. 

“Right now, there are four stations that we installed,” Mr. Wisler said. “If needed, we have the ability to expand if it is popular and people are competing for the stations. We think that in the future it will be popular, so we designed it so that we don’t need to dig up any parking lots to add new charging stations.”

The stations will be teacher and student priority; however, when they are not in use, members of the public will be able to charge their cars for a fee. 

“If you have an ID, you can use the charger for free,” Mr. Wisler said. “When it is not in staff and student usage, it will be open to the public on a per-pay basis.” 

The school will make some money, just enough to recoup the cost of the chargers. 

“We are not going to advertise the stations to the public,” Mr. Wisler said. “It’s mostly for visitors and the [school] community. You can put these stations on a map so people know where the stations are, but we are not going to do that.”

Students driving electric cars are looking forward to the charging stations being operational. 

“I am glad that I will be able to charge my car at school,” Fifth Former Nicholas Hayne said. “I will not have to worry about having it charged when I arrive at school anymore.” 

Overall, Mr. Wisler thinks that it is an important step for the school.

“[The installation of the chargers] shows that the school wants to get on the curve of new technology and invest funds for that,” Mr. Wisler said. “It shows that the school is forward-thinking. Even though electric cars have been around for a while, they are starting to get more and more traction.”