Department(s):
Finance & OperationsWPI has long supported the use of electric vehicles by providing charging stations on our main campus and at Gateway Park for the convenience of those employees, students, and other WPI-affiliated campus visitors who own EVs.
As of Feb. 1, 2026, users will be charged a flat rate of 31 cents per kilowatt hour for the first four hours of charging each day. Previously, the first four hours were provided at no cost. Free charging was enacted when EV ownership was relatively rare and charging options were limited. As EV use on campus has grown, so has the cost to deliver electricity and build the charging infrastructure: WPI now spends over $100,000 annually to support the charging stations. The demand produced by free charging—including by EV drivers not affiliated with WPI coming onto our campus—also contributed to low availability of chargers for users who need one to complete their daily travel.
Charging 31 cents per kilowatt hour allows WPI to recoup the costs of electricity and maintain the charging stations, while keeping the price low for users. The average price per kilowatt hour in Massachusetts is currently about 38 cents.
Please remember:
- Users should occupy a charging spot only while their EV is actively charging.
- After four hours, users will be charged a $4 per hour overstay fee in addition to the cost of electricity until the vehicle is moved.
- The fees will be applied to the user’s ChargePoint account.
- Users are encouraged to join the Outlook group gr-evusers@wpi.edu or contact green@wpi.edu to coordinate with one another and receive notifications related to the charging stations.
Additional information regarding the EV charging stations can be found here.
Going forward, we will monitor usage to determine whether there is enough demand to warrant installing additional chargers. WPI is already planning to install four faster L3 chargers at Gateway by this summer.