Electric Vehicle Charging Station Vandalized on Tennessee Tech University’s Campus

Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee opened its first electric vehicle charging station on campus in July 2020. Unfortunately, on June 17, 2021, the same DC Fast-Charging station was found to have been purposefully vandalized.

Thousands of dollars in damage was done overnight to the station which will need to be replaced before EV drivers are able to use it again. The most damage occurred to the two chargers as seen in the pictures below.

Both charging cables were destroyed and found on the ground.
The front screen of the TTU electric charging station was cracked across the front.
The top piece of the charging station experienced some mild damage to the availability screen and body.
While the main body of the station did not sustain as much damage as the chargers, the body paneling will need to be replaced.
The charging cables sustained the most damage overall. The CHAdeMO cable above was broken.

This charging unit was installed as a part of TTU’s Department of Energy-funded project focused on “developing an EV Testbed in the 14-county ‘Upper Cumberland’ region of Tennessee.” Beyond this DCFC unit, Dr. Pingen Chen, the project’s Principal Investigator and an Assistant Professor at TN Tech, has procured five electric vehicles, including three Nissan Leafs, to be lent out to people in the Putnam County area. Participants drive the electric vehicle for two weeks within the rural community as an innovative type of Ride and Drive experience.

Despite the damage to the charging unit on TTU’s campus, the EV Testbed program will continue to bring the opportunity to drive electric vehicles to the Upper Cumberland region.

If you are interested in participating in this program and participating in an electric vehicle test drive, apply today.