One of our fave hangouts in Chicago — Uncommon Ground at 1401 W. Devon Ave. in Rogers Park — is hosting another alternative transportation show this Thursday from 6 to 8pm. It’s part of the uber-green restaurant/bar/music venue’s monthly Green Room Sessions program, which highlight environmentally progressive organizations, goods, and services.
I-GO has been a featured guest at a few of these deals. And they’re all well worth checking out. But we really love the alternative transportation-themed evening, which has become a popular annual highlight of the Green Room Sessions. Most of it takes place in UC’s enclosed parking lot, which is equipped with electrical outlets for plug-in electric vehicles — such as the plug-in Prius we’ll be displaying.
I-GO has two such plug-ins in its fleet: at 201 E. Randolph St. in the Millennium Park north garage and at 900 S. Clark in the AMLI residential development garage. We partnered with ComEd to convert the Priuses, which are equipped with sophisticated lithium-ion battery packs developed by A123 Systems, one of the U.S.’s most exciting, new green tech innovators. Within their electric driving range, these cars are capable of up to 100mpg fuel efficiency, which further helps us reduce the amount of CO2 emissions from our already very low-emissions fleet. And we plan to add more of them to the fleet in the near future.
Besides our plug-in, you can check out a variety of green transportation options at this event, like the all-electric Tesla Roadster sportscar, a Zero electric motorcycle, hybrids, bio-diesel vehicles, veggie oil vehicles, cargo bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, and lots more. I-GO member Joe Baldwin will be there to talk about his Mobile Garden proposed concept for the CTA, and so will a rep from Carbon Day Automotive, who will display a ChargePoint charging station for EVs.
Uncommon Ground also dishes out some delicious, locally sourced food and drink. (Some of it courtesy of its own huge rooftop kitchen garden.) Enjoy free appetizers featuring the product of a local farmer or producer prepared by Uncommon Ground’s Executive Chef Brian Millman.
We hope to see you there!
