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Any Charging Places Near Penn State University?

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swegman

Active Member
Mar 27, 2012
1,586
1,652
My son is considering Penn State University in University Park (aka State College) in PA, and wants to visit the school again before making his decision. Does anyone know whether there are any chargers available in this area. I have tried the college and several hotels without success. There is a State College Nissan that has a charger, and I will call them to find out its capability and wether they would let me charge my Tesla. I am hoping to find a charger so I can take the car, instead of an ICE car.
Thanks.
 
When I went to Penn State I charged at Seven Mountains Campground and dealt with a pleasant lady named Susan. Let her know you heard about the place from another Model S owner. You'll need the 14-50 adapter. I was down to a few electrons so I split the charging in half and did 5 hours on the way there and 4-5 on the way out.
Here's their link:
Seven Mountains Campground - State College - Penn State-Home
There's nothing in the immediate area there besides cabins and a little snack bar in the main office. You might want to bring some reading materials or a computer to watch some movies on.

I was amazed that Penn State had absolutley no chargers close to campus. There was one marked on the plugshare app in near some random building but I didn't check it to see if it was legit.
 
When I went to Penn State I charged at Seven Mountains Campground and dealt with a pleasant lady named Susan. Let her know you heard about the place from another Model S owner. You'll need the 14-50 adapter. I was down to a few electrons so I split the charging in half and did 5 hours on the way there and 4-5 on the way out.
Here's their link:
Seven Mountains Campground - State College - Penn State-Home
There's nothing in the immediate area there besides cabins and a little snack bar in the main office. You might want to bring some reading materials or a computer to watch some movies on.

I was amazed that Penn State had absolutley no chargers close to campus. There was one marked on the plugshare app in near some random building but I didn't check it to see if it was legit.


I agree. I am really surpirsed by the lack of charging stations on college campuses given the PR they give to sustainability. I took a trip with my son to visit Trinity College in Connecticut and Lehigh University and neither had charging stations.
 
Thanks, I'll check out the campground. I am surprised that Penn State has no chargers. we visted University of Michigan (before getting the Tesla) and my son noted that the college parking lots all had chargers. When I spoke to Penn State they said there were no chargers for public use, the implication being they have some for their own use. I contacted Nissan of State College also, and was told that their charger is just for the use of their customers.
 
All Nissan dealers I've talked to have readily offered free usage of their chargers. Actually i think it's a federal requirement that they offer free charging to the public as part of their federal loans. I needed a place to charge in Hagerstown md and the Nissan dealer there was very accommodating.
 
All Nissan dealers I've talked to have readily offered free usage of their chargers. Actually i think it's a federal requirement that they offer free charging to the public as part of their federal loans. I needed a place to charge in Hagerstown md and the Nissan dealer there was very accommodating.

Unless that is in writing somewhere I'm a bit doubtful. Tesla also got federal funds and they're not obligated to let all of non-Tesla cars use the Superchargers. I went to see a local Nissan general manager and he mentioned that each Nissan dealership can allow whoever they want to charge. They prefer Nissan Leaf's use the charger but some dealerships are ok with other cars. It's hit or miss.

Looks like Penn State is more involved in EVs then it seems. Check out this article. Nittany Lion tests the future of electric vehicles | Penn State University

there has to be a place on campus to charge.

Notice how nothing in the article mentioned any public chargers and they didn't mention where the Tesla owner charged. I'm sorry but I just don't buy it. Sounds like a fluff piece with not much to back it up.

The article did mention the MorningStar Solar Home which was the only charger listed on plugshare:
Penn State Center for Sustainability
MorningStar Solar Home
104 Engineering Unit A, Center for Sustainability at Penn State, University Park, PA
(814) 863-5833

Even the above website doesn't make any mention of a public charging station. Doesn't sound to me like they're trying that hard.

Couldn't hurt to try calling the number. I just forgot to while I was up there since I made arrangements with the campground already and was good on charge.

Sheetz was also supposed to install a public charging station at one of their state college location but that hasn't happened yet either.
 
My brother and I are PSU football season ticket holders and both Tesla owners (VINs 3099 and 3122) and we travel up there for recruiting and other events too. There is currently nothing that looks very good, except sitting at a campground for hours, but we are making an effort to change that. We have both contacted the school with the intent of getting them on board to support EV charging. We recommended spots at the stadium that could be used by ticket holders during the game and by the rest of campus otherwise, but the response was luke-warm. We should send a clear message that they must address this obvious need for numerous reasons: supporting the environment, encouraging faculty/students to use EVs, supporting environmentally conscience boosters, simply addressing the need that exists for visitors, etc.

The contact person that responded was:
Amy Mann
email: [email protected]

I suggest we all contact her and get this on the priority list for the school. They need to know that people really want it and actually expect it and they should respond.

There is a plan for Sheetz to install a GenIII (50kW) charger at its new location on Atherton, just south of campus. I spoke with the Sheetz employee, Joe, who is responsible for this. He said they had some issues with the installer due to a company buy out (of the installer) and said they were hoping to be on track to have it installed mid-summer. I plan to check back then. Hopefully they will be ready before football season.
 
Here is what I wrote:
Amy,

I received your email address from another PSU booster regarding charging station support on the PSU campus. I am an '89 Comp Sci graduate of Penn State, season ticket holder and regular visitor for other reasons (volleyball, student recruiting, etc). I recently purchased a Tesla Model S, which is an advanced electric vehicle (EV). It has plenty of range to get me to Penn State's campus from SE PA, but not enough to get me home. In order to drive my environmentally friendly EV, I need a location to charge the vehicle when visiting. Given Penn State's great engineering capability and research support for alternative vehicles, I assumed that there would be ample locations for me to charge my vehicle when visiting, but when I researched it turns out there are no facilities in the middle of PA whatsoever.

I would like to recommend that this be addressed asap and would love to see something done before start of the football season this year. Given the negative press PSU has received, this could be one area, although small in comparison, to begin to show leadership in improving the world and environment. I would like to recommend a solution that would address this:
At / near the PSU football stadium create an array of EV charging stations (start small and leave room for growth) where boosters can get assigned locations for parking/tailgating and charging their vehicle.
On non-game weekends, make these stations available for the faculty/students for their personal use
In addition, although somewhat separate: Consider deployment a host of renewable energy collectors (solar/wind) along the stadium area which make the electricity used a net-0 effect on the environment. If you want an example of a stadium that has done this, look at the Philadelphia Lincoln Center where the Eagles play. They have deployed solar and wind collectors throughout the stadium to make the entire stadiums electricity needs net neutral.
The overall effect would be a positive message to the media, it could include the engineering students for their learning, and would be a great asset for the faculty/staff/students to use in this growing area.

Please let me know your thoughts or if I can do anything to help move this forward within the school. I am happy to discuss by phone or email if you have any questions. I look forward to your response.
 
I contacted the MorningStar Solar Home a few days ago and they mentioned they would allow people to charge. They also mentioned that when they get contacted about charging they pass on the information to the appropriate PSU staff so they are aware of the demand for EV charging. The person I was talking to pointed me to the Atherton Hotel. The Atherton Hotel staff i was talking to told me that within the next few months they will have a charging station installed but for now they have some sort of accommodation for EV drivers. Another Tesla Model S owner contacted the Atherton Hotel and the MorningStar Solar Home. As an alumni I really hope PSU itself and not just third parties install EV charging units.

Thanks brismyth for the additional contact information. Hopefully this year we can see more of an initiative by PSU in the EV charging infrastructure area.
 
I am heading to Penn State in early July for a week. I emailed the Sustainability Center to see if I could use their charger at the Moringstar House. The replied I received was yes as long as I contacted them to reserve time as it seems they are getting a lot of requests. There is one issue. The contact says that the charger is only a level 1, obviously after driving from NY that will not work.

Does anyone have any other suggestions in the area?
 
Yeah the charging infrastructure is really bad at PSU. A few weeks I was up there and was surprised to see that the MorningStar Solar Home was a Level 1.

Atherton Hotel has recently installed a Level 2 charging station but it sounds like it's for customers only. I left a message for the GM at the hotel. If I hear it'll more that a guest only charger I'll post a reply to this thread.

Outside of the locations above the fastest charging would be at the RV park I stayed the first time I drove the Model S to PSU. I mentioned it here
 
Yeah the charging infrastructure is really bad at PSU. A few weeks I was up there and was surprised to see that the MorningStar Solar Home was a Level 1.

Atherton Hotel has recently installed a Level 2 charging station but it sounds like it's for customers only. I left a message for the GM at the hotel. If I hear it'll more that a guest only charger I'll post a reply to this thread.

Outside of the locations above the fastest charging would be at the RV park I stayed the first time I drove the Model S to PSU. I mentioned it here

Yes it is for guests only. No charge except for the daily parking fee. I suggested they post on plug share and within minutes they had their listing up.
 
Unless that is in writing somewhere I'm a bit doubtful. Tesla also got federal funds and they're not obligated to let all of non-Tesla cars use the Superchargers. I went to see a local Nissan general manager and he mentioned that each Nissan dealership can allow whoever they want to charge. They prefer Nissan Leaf's use the charger but some dealerships are ok with other cars. It's hit or miss.

I have contacted 5 Nissan Dealers and 3 said no to charging my Tesla. The other 2 said "any time." I went on recargo, and other charging sites, and marked the "No's" as permanently closed and put a comment that it is only for their customers. I think we should do this when we get that info. If they are not available, they should not come up in a search. Someone could really need a charge and be turned away. As it is, I am taking my ICE car to a wedding, because the only site listed in the area of the wedding was a Nissan Dealer who said no. I am concerned with the vampire load all day and then driving home late at night with a minimum charge. I probably could make it both ways, but don't want to risk it.