Electric vehicle (EV) drivers using the Indianapolis International Airport now have a convenient way to ensure a fully charged ride home, with the installation of three new GE Energy (NYSE: GE) EV charging stations in the airport parking garage.
Beginning today, the GE WattStationTM Wall Mount EV charging stations can be used at no cost to travelers who use the airport’s valet parking services. By managing the GE EV charging stations through its valet service, the Indianapolis Airport Authority (IAA) and Parking Solutions for Airports and Global Parking System Inc. can rotate the charging of parked EVs, ensuring the service is available to any number of electric vehicles.
“EV charging services provide more options for our travelers while also supporting our broader commitment to being a good neighbor responsive to the needs of our community,” said John D. Clark III, executive director and CEO of the IAA. “Engaging in sustainability practices that add value to our customers, our community and our business model is a great way to make good on that commitment.”
An ongoing collaboration between Purdue University and GE Energy is at the heart of the new airport charging option. Purdue acquired the units with funding from Energy Systems Network through a grant from the Indiana Office of Energy Development.
“It’s exciting to see GE’s easy-to-use WattStation in a large, busy setting like the Indianapolis International Airport,” said Luis Ramírez, CEO of GE Energy Industrial Solutions. “Installing our WattStations at transportation hubs like airports provides solutions for EV drivers and brings us one step closer to the development of a comprehensive, sustainable EV infrastructure.”
Eric Dietz, associate professor of computer and information technology and director of Purdue’s Homeland Security Institute, said, “Purdue is pleased to work with IAA and GE Energy on this initiative to promote clean, renewable energy, produced in the United States. Purdue’s faculty and students will collect data from the airport chargers to use in electric vehicle and smart grid research.”
The airport’s valet services are available to customers on the curbside of the departures level, as well as on the third floor of the parking garage. The GE EV charging stations will be installed near the valet parking area on the third floor of the airport parking garage.
Additional sustainability initiatives at the airport include IAA’s recent completion of relighting projects in its parking garage and at the Indianapolis Maintenance Center that produce combined yearly savings of more than $250,000 and annually reduce CO2 emissions by 5,233 metric tons, equivalent to removing more than 1,000 gasoline-powered cars from the city’s roads each year.
IAA also has announced plans to develop one of the largest airport-based solar farms in North America, which will annually produce more than 15 million kilowatt hours of power, enough to meet the electrical energy needs of more than 1,200 average American homes for a year. The renewable power it generates will prevent approximately 10,700 tons of CO2 from being released into the environment each year, roughly equivalent to removing 2,000 gasoline-powered cars from the road annually.
Earlier this month, the airport was awarded LEED® certification for the Midfield Terminal complex and is the only airport in the United States to achieve the certification for an entire airport campus.