I-GO Car Sharing

Standing behind Gov. Quinn as he signs two EV bills into law, from l. to r.: I-GO CEO Sharon Feigon; State Senator Susan Garrett (29th District); Jonathan Goldman, EV Project Manager, I-GO; State Representative Ann Williams (11th District); and State Senator Heather Steans (7th District)

In front of a Greektown Walgreen’s that boasts a new charging station for electric vehicles, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed a pair of bills into law on Saturday designed to increase the use of EVs in Illinois through grants and a new advisory council.

I-GO has been instrumental in fostering EV deployment in the state and advocating for passage of the two bills.

House Bill 2902 puts in place a framework for electric vehicle policy development for the state. The bill creates an Electric Vehicle Coordinator position within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. This person will serve as the Quinn administration’s point person on all things related to EVs. The bill also creates an Electric Vehicle Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives from environmental organizations, industry and government. The committee will develop policy recommendations that will be shared with the governor and the General Assembly for action.

I-GO CEO Sharon Feigon spoke at the event and shared I-GO's plans to install 18 solar canopy charging stations to power 36 electric vehicles with emissions-free electricity. State Senators Susan Garrett and Heather Steans and State Representative Ann Williams were present as bill sponsors.

Also on hand for the event: an electric-powered bus developed by BYD, a company based in Shenzhen, China. A company official attended the ceremony, and Quinn said he plans to meet with more company officials when he visits China in September. The governor said he’d like to see BYD manufacture the buses in Illinois, which he envisions as an “electric vehicle capital.”

Gov. Quinn takes a close look at an I-GO plug-in Prius in 2009 with I-GO and ComEd executives.

Gov. Patrick Quinn signed two bills promoting the use of electric vehicles (EVs) at the Walgreens at 111 S. Halsted (at Monroe) on Saturday, July 9. The Walgreens parking lot currently has an EV charging station.

I-GO has been instrumental in fostering EV deployment in the state and advocating for passage of the two bills. Later this year I-GO will install 18 solar canopy charging stations to power its 36 electric vehicles with emissions-free electricity. Sign up for I-GO to be one of the first in the city to drive an EV. Be sure to follow I-GO on Twitter to stay up to date on the exciting EV project developments.

House Bill 2902 puts in place a framework for electric vehicle policy development for the state. The bill creates an Electric Vehicle Coordinator position within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. This person will serve as the Quinn Administration’s point person on all things related to EVs. The bill also creates an Electric Vehicle Advisory Committee, comprised of a representative from environmental organizations, industry and government. The committee will develop policy recommendations that will be shared with the governor and the General Assembly for action.

House Bill 2903 amends the Alternate Fuel Vehicle program at Illinois EPA to create a grant opportunity for car sharing organizations to receive funding for the purchase of EVs. The existing program provides rebates to owners of alternate fuel vehicles, using money from a vehicle fleet fee dedicated for this purpose. The program has been underutilized in recent years, and this bill will allow more of the funding to be used to meet the program goals.

HB 2902 was sponsored by Rep. Ann Williams and Sen. Susan Garrett, and HB 2903 was sponsored by Rep. Williams and Sen. Heather Steans.