Padrón Campus Installs Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

Four electric vehicle charging stations were installed at Eduardo J. Padrón Campus last month as part of a college-wide initiative to bring the technology to all Miami Dade College campuses.

The charging ports were installed by Betancourt Construction, Inc. in the employee parking lot between 5th Street and 6th Street, across from building 1A. 

Gloria Baez, the director of administration at the campus, said she has requested additional charging spaces for the student parking garage in building 6.

“Miami Dade College is an innovative institution always looking to be cutting edge,” Baez said. “Electric charging stations are going up all over the nation, so it was natural [for this to] come to Miami Dade College at some point.”

The project is part of a partnership with Blink Charging, a Florida-based electric vehicle charging company. Blink provides the electric vehicle equipment and maintenance and the College shares the revenue generated.

Installation at Padrón Campus, which was done in four stages—electrical infrastructure, site improvement, equipment installation and final inspection—cost approximately $100,000. 

West and Wolfson campuses are expected to have charging stations installed and fully operational by the beginning of the spring semester, according to Oscar Cortina, the senior construction manager at district facilities management. 

The West EV charging stations are 80 percent complete in the parking garage in building 3, level 3, and the parking lot in building 2 on the east side. 

At Wolfson Campus, 20 percent of the electrical infrastructure is complete in building 7, level 2, and in parking lot B, level 3, by building 5.

Students will have full access to the charging stations at West and Wolfson campuses. 

The College is looking for funding to install stations at the rest of the campuses. 

To use the charging stations, drivers must park and plug in their vehicles and pay through the Blink mobile app.

Drivers then input the station’s smart charger number into the app, pay with their member card, guest code or debit/credit card and click charge. 

The charging station will flash blue once it begins charging and green once it’s done, but it can be unplugged beforehand. 

Costs depend on the kilowatts needed to charge the vehicle and the amount of time it’s left charging. An extra fee will be charged for vehicles that stay resting on the lot beyond their full-charge.

Staff writer Nikole Valiente contributed to this story.

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