Two local community colleges are receiving U.S. Department of Transportation grants to install electric vehicle charging stations on their main campuses.
The $1 million grant will pay to install 20 Level 2 EV charging stations at 10 community colleges statewide. Nash Community College and Edgecombe Community College will each get two charging stations as part of the grant.
Level 2 chargers take between 4 hours and 8 hours to charge a vehicle.
Participating colleges also will be able to add clean vehicle training courses that teach students how to build and repair electric vehicles and install, maintain and operate EV chargers.
ECC President Greg McLeod said the chargers will be welcomed additions to the Tarboro campus.
“Charging stations on our campuses will help meet the car-charging needs of our students, employees and the community at large while also allowing ECC to enhance its automotive systems technology, electrical systems technology and Steps4Growth Clean Energy Pre-Apprenticeship programs,” Mcleod said. “Having these charging stations on ECC’s campuses will provide valuable access and opportunity for students to learn how to install, maintain and operate the stations.”
The grants advance the national effort to develop a network of electric vehicle charging stations so drivers can charge EVs in areas convenient to where they live and work and that are close to the state’s major thoroughfares.
“We’re grateful to our federal partners for their continued support of North Carolina’s push for a clean energy economy,” said N.C. Transportation Secretary Joey Hopkins. “This grant not only improves access to convenient and reliable EV charging stations so more people will feel comfortable owning an electric vehicle, it also takes an important step to ensure our workforce has the education, knowledge and skills needed to sustain the clean energy transition.”
NCC President Lew Hunnicutt said charging stations will be welcomed assets for a number of reasons.
“Nash Community College is proud to be a partner in this grant. We look forward to getting the EV charging station set up on campus to offer a charging location to our students, staff and guests,” Hunnicutt said.
Hunnicutt echoed McLeod’s sentiments about the charging stations being a benefit to the college’s pre-apprenticeship program.
According to the community college’s website, the program includes 96 hours of continuing education coursework and a minimum of 80 hours of on-the-job training. The objective is to prepare students for a career in the clean energy and the electric vehicle sector.
Hunnicutt said the college has not received a timetable for installation of the charging stations.
In December, officials with the city of Rocky Mount and Edgecombe Community College gathered on the college’s Rocky Mount campus for the grand opening of a city-owned public charging station for electric vehicles.
McLeod put the EV station to the test in a demonstration during the ribbon-cutting event.
The city-owned Level 2 charging stations can charge two vehicles simultaneously. The other charging station is in the Station Square parking lot in downtown Rocky Mount.
Level 2 charging stations have double the voltage of a Level 1 station and take much less time to charge a vehicle.
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