Students and staff at Colorado State can breathe a little easier thanks to an incentive program aimed at reducing gas-emitting vehicles at the university.

With assistance from the Electric Vehicle and Vehicle Retirement Incentive, CSU Housing & Dining Facilities has traded in a gas vehicle for an electric van to provide services throughout main campus. Additionally, CSU’s Energy Institute is now able to provide education to area schools with an electric truck, a Ford Lightning that just arrived on campus

“We are very excited about the new truck and the role it will play at the Energy Institute,” said Jason Quinn, operating director of CSU’s Energy Institute.

The Energy Institute was recently awarded a $5,000 grant from the President’s Sustainability Commission toward the purchase of a Ford Lightning with a 20-foot enclosed trailer. The trailer will be converted into a mobile classroom for their STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) outreach program.

“We bring hands-on education modules to schools, and they’re being taught by students from CSU who are Energy Ambassadors and peer mentors,” said Quinn. “This program is something that has impact, and you can see it in the reactions of the students we connect with.”

The institute has had a huge demand for mobile outreach, and with help from the EV grant, they can now sustainably meet the growing need, while retiring their gas-powered Ford Expedition. He says the new EV will get a lot of use.

“Since Covid, there’s less funding and bandwidth for field trips,” said Quinn, adding that using the electric Ford Lighting’s trailer as a mobile classroom eliminates the barrier to entry for their STEAM outreach program.

“We can bring them after-school activities. It parks outside the school, and weather doesn’t matter,” said Quinn. “Students can come out and have a hands-on experience related to energy and carbon solutions.”

The President’s Sustainability Commission is currently offering CSU entities up to $5,000 per electric vehicle purchase and $2,000 for the retirement of internal combustion engine vehicles. The program aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the purchase of EVs and the retirement of high-emission vehicles from the university’s fleet.

The program also made it possible for Housing & Dining Facilities to purchase a Ford E-transit cargo van. The purchase was not just a sustainability decision but also a functionality decision. Housing & Dining Facilities staff already drive an electric Nissan Leaf for some of their duties and needed a larger vehicle.

“We needed something to transport materials as well as staff,” said Will Soto, a supervisor for Housing & Dining Facilities.

Soto added: “We have been replacing a lot of doors, and sometimes we can’t get a large door into a smaller vehicle. We can put four to five doors into this.”

The van runs on electric power. Since the crews primarily use it for short trips around campus, it has been an even more efficient vehicle for the team. The charge lasts for about a week and a half.

“Motorpool is on the other side of campus from our office, so this van saves time,” said Aaron Mikulewicz, associate director of daily operations for Housing & Dining Services.

The electric van can use the EV charger outside the Housing Services Center on Plum Street or any of the chargers on campus. There are also plans to take it up to the CSU Mountain Campus this summer and utilize the EV chargers installed there last summer.

Each department can apply for up to three EV incentives, so Housing & Dining Facilities is also pursuing two more EV vehicle purchases with the grant incentives so they can retire more gas-emitting vehicles this year, for a total of five EVs in their fleet by the end of 2025.

“Housing & Dining Services has more than 50 vehicles in their fleet, and this incentive program provides an excellent catalyst for us to transition over to electric vehicles, one – or in this case, three – at a time,” said Mary Liang, assistant director of sustainability for CSU Housing & Dining Services. “This is one way we are making progress toward the university’s goal of climate neutrality by 2040.”

Grants now available for electric carts

New to the EV grant this month is a $2,000 incentive for retiring gas-powered carts at CSU. Applicants can receive an additional $1,000 to then purchase an electric cart. Details on this program and the EV grant, including how to apply, can be found on the CSU Sustainability Fund page at green.colostate.edu/csu-sustainability-fund/#tab2.

Any department seeking a grant for an EV or electric cart should reach out to Fleet Services by April 15 if they plan to purchase this fiscal year.