A great perk when you own an electric vehicle is free charging. This is a perk that CSU Stanislaus offers to both staff and students with their parking permits, but this semester, Teslas have been asked not to use the chargers by Capital Planning and Facilities Management.
This sign is currently posted on the chargers on campus. It asks vehicle owners with Tesla to not to charge on campus because of damage to adapters and cables when the Tesla tries to charge on campus.
Dr. Shannon Stevens, Associate Professor of Journalism in the Department of English and Co-Director of Creative Media, said that she had seen the signs since the beginning of the semester.
When asked for details of what was happening, the Signal received this statement from Capital Planning and Facilities Management.
“Capital Planning and Facilities Management has received several reports that Tesla charging adapters are getting stuck and melting while charging at the non-Tesla chargers located on campus. Campus electricians and the manufacturing company of the chargers are not able to identify the specific cause of the issue. No such events have been reported involving non-Tesla vehicles,” their email response read.
Stevens, an owner of a plug-in hybrid made by Hyundai, came to campus and tried to charge and found an adapter stuck on the plug on the charger. She had to call facilities to get help because she couldn’t get it off. They had to send out two people to pull the adapter off. They struggled to get it off. She said facilities mentioned they were lucky they could get it off, because they’re normally welded completely to the charging plug. When she asked what was going on, they told her it was problem with Teslas.
She also asked them how big of a problem it was, and she was told it was a “chronic problem.”
When asked if there is anything that can be done to enforce the signs or if they knew about the issue asking Tesla not to charge, UPD did not comment. They did say they had complaints this semester about people parking in the parking spots for the chargers, but weren’t charging. They wanted to remind everyone that you have to be charging an electric vehicle to be parked in those spots.
Steven shared her frustration that the melted adapter disrupted her schedule and forced her to have a meeting with a student outside due to the time it took to pry the adapter from her car.
“I went over to sit by the pond because I was meeting with a student, so this was all delayed because I was supposed to be at a student meeting. So, my student met me in the parking lot, so we were having our conversation as I waited for facilities,” she said.
She also said it was frustrating as there are only around eight chargers on campus, and according to her conversations with facilities when they came to help her, when the adapters get stuck on the university chargers, they tend to destroy the charger plug.
While working on this story, the Signal spotted multiple Teslas still charging on-campus despite the signs.
If you have questions, you can contact Capital Planning and Facilities Management at (209) 667-3211 or email [email protected].
