The Center at Donaldson in Plymouth, Indiana, began electrifying its fleet and infrastructure over the course of two years. The projects were led by staff and supported by local grants. The new electric vehicles and charging station increased visits to the Center and operational savings.
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Built institutional support and acquired grant funding.
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Added infrastructure and equipment
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Created educational programming
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The Center at Donaldson is an intergenerational living and learning center focused on art, earth, education, and spirit. The ministries at the Center at Donaldson – which include Marian University's Ancilla College – are sponsored by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.
Driven by customer demand, the Director of Ecological Relationships at the Center championed electric vehicles and charging stations in Plymouth, Indiana. The Center set a goal to support electric vehicle infrastructure in an affordable, useful, and visible manner.
According to the Department of Energy, electric vehicles achieve better fuel economy and have lower fuel costs than similar conventional vehicles and improve national energy security by reducing demand for petroleum. Furthermore, electric vehicles improve community resilience. For instance, if essential services suddenly shut down from extreme weather or other disasters, residents could be stranded without power. Electric vehicles can act as mobile emergency backups, providing both transportation and a supply of electricity during outages as electric vehicles can power phones, appliances, homes, and more. Since electricity is often the first power restored, electric vehicles can be recharged and be back online quickly, which can avoid gridlock at gas stations and extending services to isolated areas, such as rural communities.
In 2017, the Center installed two Level 2 chargers on-site that could be used by staff, their own fleet, and visitors with electric cars. They chose Level 2 chargers because they allow for more people to use the chargers quickly while being less expensive than fast-charging stations. The process was made easier as the Center located an existing buried conduit in a centralized area for the charging station. This existing infrastructure made the upgrades more affordable as well since they could build off existing infrastructure instead of needing to install new infrastructure. The only labor required for the installation was pulling the wires from the conduit as the installation did not require cutting through concrete in the parking lot or laying a new conduit.
The charging infrastructure opened the door for an institutional shift for their fleet, so the Center added three electric vehicles to its fleet—two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and one battery electric vehicle. Given that charging infrastructure is still expanding in Indiana, the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were selected first to guarantee sufficient mileage range and to begin normalizing electric vehicles in general. The plug-in hybrid electric vehicles made a successful first impression on staff, and so in 2018 the Center purchased a battery electric vehicle.
The charging infrastructure cost $5,000 and 80 percent was funded through a grant from the Marshall County Community Foundation with the other 20 percent matched by the Center. The first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle was purchased used and cost $17,000, the second plug-in hybrid electric vehicle was purchased new and cost $33,000, and the battery electric vehicle was purchased new and cost $27,500 after a fleet discount. All vehicle purchases were supported by general funds from the Center except for the second plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, which was paid for through the grant.
The installation of the charging infrastructure in 2017 took approximately six months to complete. The fleet was updated from 2017 to 2018.
Supported by grants and institutional investment, the Center is now the proud owner of three electric vehicles – two plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and one battery electric vehicle – and a charging station that operates 24 hours a day. So far, the battery electric vehicle has performed better operationally and culturally due to monetary savings and reduced environmental impact from gas consumption.
In addition to providing the staff with access to charging infrastructure and electric transportation, the investments added value by increasing the number and diversifying the types of visitors. As part of the Indiana Promise Program, classrooms visit the Center to observe and learn more about electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure, prompting the Center to expand its educational programming.
The Center has not been able to evaluate the savings from one of the hybrid plug-in electric vehicles due to its inability to display total electric miles driven vs. gas miles driven.
The Center noted that having an institutional champion was critical when faced with complaints about pitfalls. To ensure individuals understood the benefits of electric vehicles, the champion did not skip past basic questions from any staff or visitors who were less familiar with this new transportation option. Additionally, the Center tracked every trip for the first six months to educate and reduce anxiety about the ranges of the electric vehicles.
Director of Ecological Relationships Adam Thada said, “It was important to establish a human resources policy on the charging station from the outset to normalize and encourage the use of electric vehicles. At the Center, this manifested as a modest flat yearly fee for employees who want to charge on a regular basis to combat any perception that anyone was attempting to free ride off the institutional utilities.”
Adam Thada
Director of Ecological Relationships
The Center at Donaldson
athada@poorhandmaids.org
