{"id":132811,"date":"2021-11-15T16:13:35","date_gmt":"2021-11-15T15:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=132811"},"modified":"2026-01-19T15:07:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T14:07:29","slug":"charging-stations-for-electric-vehicles-on-campus-have-been-broken-for-months","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2021\/11\/15\/charging-stations-for-electric-vehicles-on-campus-have-been-broken-for-months\/","title":{"rendered":"Charging stations for electric vehicles on campus have been broken for months"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you drive an electric vehicle to campus, you may well find yourself unable to recharge your car there, as the charging stations in the car park often seem to work very poorly, if at all. Since more and more employees now travel to the campus in electric or hybrid cars, the university installed another twelve charging stations in the car park, taking the total number up to sixteen. However, it turns out those additional charging stations have not performed properly since they were installed.<\/p>\n

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The LED rings turn blue when the charging stations are functioning properly.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEsther Dijkstra<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

According to Professor of Communication and Media Jeroen Jansz, who regularly drives a hybrid car to campus, the stations\u2019 poor performance is causing drivers of electric vehicles to feel tremendously frustrated in the car park. Jansz says that he is very happy that EUR seeks to become a more sustainable place. He himself alternates between public transport and a car when commuting to and from the campus. \u201cGreening the campus\u00a0is a considerable step forward, but the charging stations for electric cars are disappointing. Sometimes there\u2019ll be three drivers simultaneously trying various charging stations in the car park. Some days we\u2019ll be lucky and find one that works, but often we won\u2019t. Either they\u2019re completely dead (no light), or the green circle turns yellow or red as soon as you hook up the cable.\u201d On a properly functioning charging station, the circle will be blue while your car is being charged.<\/p>\n

Thwarted efforts to be green<\/h2>

What Jansz finds all the more frustrating is the fact that it is taking so long for the problem to be solved. After he reported the issue, EUR\u2019s Real Estate & Facilities Unit took up the matter. After some measurements, it was found that two charging stations were not getting any power, while the other stations weren\u2019t working properly. In October, the supplier of the charging stations, Engie, asked a mechanic to come and take a look. The mechanic reported \u2018software-related outages and outages due to user error\u2019. Those outages were resolved in late October.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I celebrated too soon,\u201d says Jansz. The charging stations still don\u2019t work properly. \u201cThe solution only worked for a short while.\u201d Jansz says the problem is just one of the problems the university has grappled with on campus in recent months, such as the cracks in the floors of the Polak Building and the leak in the campus pond. \u201cThis problem isn\u2019t as bad as those, but it does prevent us from being sustainable. If you provide a facility like this, you have to make sure it works. It\u2019s very strange that we\u2019ve had this problem for months now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Root cause of the problem<\/h2>

According to Jan-Cees Jol, EUR\u2019s Sustainability Coordinator, reports on malfunctioning charging stations are being investigated, but no one is certain yet what is causing the problem. \u201cAlong with the Real Estate & Facilities Unit and the energy supplier, we are responsible for the proper performance of the charging stations. Whenever an issue is reported to the Service Desk, we look into it. Yes, it\u2019s true that we\u2019ve recently found that some of the electric vehicle charging stations aren\u2019t working properly, so we\u2019re trying to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We\u2019re trying to identify the root cause of this recurring problem. It\u2019s a pity it\u2019s taking so long, because we\u2019re actually very happy that so many people are using the charging stations, which is in line with our vision of a sustainable campus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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