“How was it decided that De Anza College would install electric vehicle parking spaces? What are the long-term intentions and plans that De Anza has for the current electric vehicle parking?” These are just two simple questions I emailed Marisa Spatafore, De Anza’s marketing, communications, and development director, regarding the recent electric vehicle spaces located in parking Lot B.

 “I do apologize, but I won’t be able to obtain the detail level (cost, space, etc.) before next week,” Spatafore responded via email.

After reading the disappointing response I told her I could wait but asked that I be given a contact of someone who could answer these questions. She must have only read the first part as over a week later, still no response. This is no result of Spatafore’s own shortcoming, but it does raise a few new questions:

How come we, as students, cannot access information on the new electric vehicle parking spaces at our college? What benefit does electric car parking provide De Anza?

Until there are detailed answers to these questions, electric car parking spaces are not justified at De Anza.

Part of Measure C, a bond measure funding construction at De Anza, went to various photovoltaic projects at De Anza such as the solar panels in Lot B and included funding for the housing, and installation of, electric car chargers. However, as La Voz has reported, the actual chargers were not installed and must be run by an independent company. 

Why then were these chargers even added to the project? Well, to earn De Anza a platinum rating on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system.

With electric cars running on the same lithium battery technology found in a 13-inch laptop, and given the unreliable history of electric vehicles, how many students and faculty are willing to dish out $30,000 to take a chance on new technology? 

As a community college population, students here pay $24 per unit if not less given low-income fee waivers, and part-time instructors out number full-time. It isn’t reasonable to expect that such a community can afford to pay a huge premium on a car with unproven technological reliability. Moreover, De Anza could get dented by the cost of energy.

Charged at its fastest, the $130,000 Tesla Roadster electric sports car will use 16,800 watts or enough power to run 37 new computers simultaneously. One car is worth 37 computers and the spaces allow for up to 20 charging stations. Even if half of the spaces are being used that’s enough power to black out the ATC.

Where will all the power come from for these cars? At the expense of lighting, air conditioning or the computer lab? Why should De Anza risk the shutdown of a classroom for a gold star from LEED?

To put into perspective the severity of electric car drain, utility companies are currently gathering information and making adjustments to their power grids to avoid just such a blowout with the projected increase in eclectic vehicles, despite J. D. Power and Associates estimating that by 2015 electric vehicles will only account for 0.3 percent of car sales. Is our infrastructure ready?

The likelihood that you will see a fellow student driving the latest Nissan Leaf is as about as high as seeing Whitney Houston singing on stage again. Electric vehicles may appear good on paper, but that does not mean they are good for De Anza.