“We’re going to have electric vehicles galore in the state of Illinois,” said Illinois Govenor Pat Quinn at the Chicago Auto Show today, during a press conference to announce electric-vehicle plans for Chicago and the state. “We want to be the nation’s capital for electric vehicles.”
Also present at the event: Sharon Feigon, CEO of I-GO Car Sharing (above, far right); Dan Gabel, ComEd’s manager of electric vehicles; and Mariana Gerzanych, chief executive of 350Green LLC, the San Diego company awarded the approximately $2 million contract for the initial widespread installation of 280 EV charging stations throughout Chicago.
Seventy-three of the charging stations will offer quick-charging capacity, and will be able to charge a vehicle in less than 30 minutes. Illinois will have the largest number of fast-charging stations in the country once the $8.8 million project is complete.
I-GO Car Sharing, an environmentally focused nonprofit org, has been working closely with city government to bring the initiative to fruition. I-GO will have 36 EVs at 36 electric charging stations dedicated to its car sharing vehicles. This spring, I-GO is taking the green EV project a step further by installing solar canopies at 15 stations so its electric fleet will run on clean solar power. I-GO’s EV program began in January 2009 with the addition of two plug-in electric Priuses to its fleet.
