Cambrian College installs electric vehicle charging stations

In an effort to reduce carbon emissions, Cambrian College in Sudbury is putting new electric vehicle charging stations on campus.

On Wednesday, an announcement about the 10 new Level 2 dual port charging stations was made at the Barrydowne Road campus by Johnathan Wilkinson, the federal minister of natural resources and MP for North Vancouver, B.C.

The federal government is chipping in $100,000 of the $354,000 price tag, to install these outlets.

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This is just the beginning, the government is looking to build an electric vehicle infrastructure across the country, Wilkinson said.

"We need to be seeing more progress in smaller communities, like Sudbury, like Thunder Bay and eventually rural communities to be able to ensure people can go wherever they want without fear, so this is a good start," said Wilkinson.

Cambrian is starting to see more electric vehicles on campus, vice president of finance and administration Kristine Morrissey said.

"We will also be investing in some electric vehicles as campus vehicles for our recruitment and security areas in the next year as well," Morrissey said.

"It's just great that when people come to class that they can actually charge their vehicle and be ready to hit the road when they’re done."

Anyone can use the stations and it costs $2.50 an hour to operate with a four-hour time limit.

Plugging into electric vehicle charging station at Cambrian College. March 1/23 (Ashely Bacon/CTV Northern Ontario)

The chargers install will charge up to 20 vehicles at a time and takes about three to eight hours to fully charge, compared to Level 1 home chargers that can take 11 – 20 hours.