Stehouwer is the first owner of a Chevy Volt on campus — a plug-in hybrid electric car first released by General Motors Co. in late 2010. He drove to New York to pick up the car last month and has since launched a blog — voltfansite.com — where he tracks his energy efficiency, the longest distances he has run on a single charge and posts tips for other electric car owners.

More than 20 other Volt owners have signed up to track their statistics on his site, and Stehouwer said he loves the competition.

“It’s a war,” he said.

So far, Stehouwer has not been allowed to plug in his car on campus because of the lack of charging infrastructure, but an MSU team is working with the Lansing Board of Water and Light to identify possible locations to install charging stations and make them more accessible to faculty and students who want to buy electric cars, said Lynda Boomer, energy and environmental engineer with the MSU Physical Plant.

The stations likely will work similar to parking meters, with a minimal rate that will allow electric car owners to plug their car in for a specified amount of time, she said.

“This is all new and it’s fun to be on the forefront to get these charging stations and get MSU on the map,” Boomer said.

Stehouwer and his Volt are part of the Lansing Board of Water and Light’s Plug-In Electric Vehicle Community Project, funded by the Department of Energy, said Kellee Christenson, manager of customer projects, development and marketing for the board.

People in the program who buy a Volt or other electric car receive a $7,500 discount on the ticket price from the board, in addition to a $7,500 federal tax credit, she said. The board also installs a charging station at the resident’s home and their place of work at no cost to them, Christenson said.

“The whole idea of the program (is to promote) accepting this type of technology and continue to make citizens of the Mid-Michigan area less dependent on foreign oil,” she said.

The program will have 27 vehicles total, but not all of the cars are in the Lansing area yet, Christenson said. The program already is full and everyone in it will provide the board with three years’ worth of data, including filling out surveys and allowing the board to collect data from their charging stations to see the impact the cars have on the electrical grid, she said.

The board also is working to install charging stations in public areas and parking lots as electric cars become more common in the Lansing area, Christenson said.

“By this time next year, you will see them there,” she said.

Every night when Stehouwer gets home, he plugs in his car and charges it for about eight to 10 hours, he said. The Lansing Board of Water and Light will provide him with a higher-capacity charging station next month, reducing his charging time down closer to four hours, he said.

So far, the longest distance he’s been able to drive on a single charge has been 39 miles, and as the weather gets warmer — he expects that amount to rise even higher, he said.

“In the last month, I’ve only put $30 of gas in the car,” he said, adding that he smiles when he drives past gas stations and doesn’t have to stop to fill up.

Stehouwer also said owning the car is a good talking point.

“People just gravitate towards you,” he said. “Everybody wants to talk about the car.”