Nina Kirvonic used to drive a hybrid, but now owns a small SUV. Gas prices hovering near the $3.90 mark could be a good push to go back, or buy electric.
"Being in college and being on the low income, it really impacts me," says Kirvonic. "The charging stations that they have around, definitely are a perk because you can go out, do your shopping around town and charge your car at the same time."
The Bowling Green campus and city are home to six free electric charging stations. Drivers pay for meter time, but get to charge up at no cost.
The goal was to encourage drivers to go green, and give them a way to get energy for free.
"My goal is to make BGSU a more green and sustainable institution," says Nick Hennessy, the sustainability coordinator for BGSU.
But that free price tag may not stick around much longer. Campus charging spots got new meters in January that will help monitor energy usage at each station.
"If they really do catch on and start to be used quite a bit, I think we need to know how much electricity is being pulled from the station and are we covering our costs by the charge for the parking," says Hennessy.
City and campus leaders will track energy usage over the next six months before coming to a decision on prices, if they decide to charge anything. Drivers say with gas prices steadily climbing, finding an electric vehicle doesn't seem like such a bad idea.
"If it was affordable and worked for me, I would definitely consider it," says Joe Wiskochil, a Bowling Green driver. "There's an electric charging station right there that would work really well."
To find out exactly where you can find electric charging stations for your car, you can visit www.carstations.com . There is a free app you can download for an iPhone or Android device.
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