Compared to other colleges and universities in Southern California, El Camino College has fewer electric vehicle chargers on campus.

However, El Camino should consider adding more chargers on campus because as more affordable electric vehicles get introduced into the market, it is more likely that people will need to charge on campus.

According to their website, El Camino has 10 electric vehicle chargers located in Parking Lot C, which are available for anyone with an electric vehicle.

This current number of chargers at El Camino seems insufficient when considering that 28,604 students were enrolled in the 2021-2022 school year, according to the California Community  College Chancellor’s Office Datamart.

The Datamart is a database where the public can search for community college data about

students and faculty, and compare them to other colleges.

This doesn’t include the employees who may own an electric vehicle.

As of October 2022, electric vehicles total 17.7% of new car sales in California, according to the Office of the Governor of California.

This rate is expected to go up as California plans to only sell new zero-emission vehicles in the future.

On August 25, 2022, the California Air Resources Board voted to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in California by 2035.

The policy was put into place as a step toward the state’s efforts to meet its goal of transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2045.

In order to help that transition, there will need to be more installations of charging stations in various places across California.

PlugShare is a website where people can search for charging stations in their area.

At a higher enrollment than El Camino, Long Beach City College had 34,365 students in 2021-2022, according to Datamart, and has 91 chargers among their two campuses.

With fewer students than El Camino, Riverside City College had 27,084 students in 2021-2022 and has 26 chargers, according to PlugShare.

Parking problems for students and employees have been prevalent at El Camino and the recent on-campus construction process may have pushed back any plans to add more chargers.

El Camino campus security and access technician Mitchell Kekauoha said there are no official plans to add more electric vehicle chargers.

Implementing more charging stations can be costly due to the installation and equipment fees.

Currently, those who can afford to purchase new electric vehicles are willing to do so to save money in the future by not paying for any more gas.

Since it appears California has enforced plans to introduce only new electric vehicles in the future, El Camino should prepare to be able to accommodate more electric vehicles that may stop by on campus.

Editorials are unsigned and are written and voted upon by the editorial board.