Eco-friendly, E-zone cars for Campus Safety

Nanahene Djan's picture

Campus Safety, E-zone, Nanahene Djan, News - By Nanahene Djan on Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 05:09

In the spirit of eco-friendliness, Campus Safety has began using E-zone cars. “The first of the two electric cars was ready for first use by Campus Safety on Sunday, April 8 but the second electric car still has some work to be done on it,” Deputy Director of Campus Safety Jose Padilla said. “The department sent a proposal for the electric cars to [Dean of Students Jeanne Ortiz] in the hope to try and reduce fossil fuel pollution on and around the campus. It is good for the campus environmen. It saves a lot of money because we don’t need fuel for these cars.”
Campus Safety received two of these cars in February but only started using them earlier this month because the cars had to be worked on which included a paint job and to register the car into the school system.
The new electric cars are equipped with sirens and a Public Address System. They also have a range of 40 miles and can run uncharged for between five to seven hours, depending on the terrain they are running on.
Despite the diminutive appearance of these electric vehicles, they have a spacious interior, which has all the features of a regular sedan. The electric cars are equipped with a seatbelts, heating and rearview mirrors, all of which are not present in the electric carts that were previously used to move around campus.

“These new cars are very impressive and efficient,” Padilla said. “They are easier to move around campus and also anytime they move downhill, you can take your foot off the gas, and the battery charges.”

The electric cars only have two seats, which is one of the reasons why the supervisors of the department will mostly be using the cars. Campus Safety will still be on call if students need to be picked up and the electric cars are unoccupied.

“The new cars are a good introduction because they do not require the use of fuel which took up a decent chunk of the campus safety budge,” student worker of campus safety and junior Nathaniel Smauley said. “The size of the cars make it much easier to move around campus and as such emergency calls would be answered sooner making these electric vehicles more useful than the Honda Elements that were in use previously.”