Electric vehicles. Virtually every residence hall or on-campus apartment has them. They’re somewhat rare, but every now and then one emerges from its den, quietly and alert, like a prey careful to avoid its predator. For these unwelcome entities, there is always a high likelihood of getting caught, but that doesn’t stop them from roaming our halls.
Electric vehicles are one of the several items blacklisted by University Housing. Under the current Community Standards — guidelines for safe living — any type of electric transportation, from scooters to skateboards, is prohibited in all residential spaces. If you’re seen with one, you may be asked to put it outside, or worse, be reported for violation of conduct. While this policy works under the guise of protecting students, there is more left to be desired.
Although electric vehicles are prohibited indoors, students are allowed to use them on campus. Transportation recognizes personal electric scooters as a form of alternative transportation and even go as far as to provide safety tips for riding one. However, there are no recommendations regarding proper storage or management, leaving students with only one reasonable option: hide them in their spaces.
As I’m sure anyone who owns an electric vehicle can attest, this policy isn’t effective in actual practice. No sensible person would keep something like that anywhere other than inside, at least, not for an extended time. Any manual or user guide will tell you to avoid wet conditions and extreme temperatures. Moisture is an electric machine’s kryptonite, and with the weather in North Carolina, putting one outside for any amount of time is a serious gamble. Furthermore, doing this may actually be more dangerous as it increases the risk of the battery failing.
In addition, electric vehicles are expensive, more so than bikes. According to Electric Scooter Insider, electric scooters can range anywhere from $150 to $6,500, depending on the use and intended age group. For instance, scooters for college students typically cost between $350 and $650.
Then, there’s the issue of charging. Since there are very few places to find electrical sockets outdoors, much less ones that work well, charging a device outside is hardly practical. Plus, no one wants to sit for what can be hours on end waiting for their skateboard to reach full battery or have to worry about their charger being stolen.
When I asked University Housing why electric transportation is banned indoors, I was told it is because they are fire hazards. In all fairness, this is perfectly understandable. Many electric vehicles run on lithium-ion batteries, which can overheat or even explode if not managed properly. Yet, the likelihood of this happening is still considerably lower than a fire being caused by other devices you can find in living spaces on campus, such as stoves and microwaves.
In fact, only one out of every 10 million lithium-ion batteries fail and cause a fire. On the other hand, cooking was responsible for 49% of all reported home fires in the U.S. between 2014-2018, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Although stoves are more common household amenities than scooters, there’s no denying that at the current time, kitchens are the bigger of the two threats to student safety.
When considering options for how to improve this policy, an all-out ban may be pretty tempting, as many colleges have decided to do. While data regarding safety for electric vehicles is scant, we shouldn’t broadly label them as “dangerous” just yet. Electric transportation provides numerous benefits to students and the campus community, such as being efficient and eco-friendly, and these should be equally weighed.
Rather than prohibiting electric vehicles from indoor spaces entirely, Housing and NC State could emphasize the importance of vehicle maintenance. As a reference, many electric vehicles should be stored in relatively dry, dark places and not left to charge for too long. However, if concerns for safety remain, designated areas should be made available to students with electric vehicles, preferably ones that provide the optimal conditions. This could look like permitting the use of storage lockers for these types of transportation, or at the very least, providing shaded parking structures.
With so many students that own electric vehicles, there needs to be places to store them other than outside. It’s not fair nor effective to ask students living on campus to follow a rule that offers them no alternative. Moving forward, Housing should keep these experiences in mind, as that is what creates a successful policy.
