A new state rebate program for electric vehicle charging stations could inspire businesses and others to rev up their commitment to battery-operated cars.
The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) recently launched an EV Charging Station Rebate Program that will give cash back to anyone in the state who installs them by June 15 this year.
So far, six rebate applications have been submitted, according to a DCEO spokesman.
Some consider the reluctant embrace of electric vehicles to be a chicken-or-egg dilemma: What needs to come first, consumers and businesses buying the cars or the infrastructure that would let them recharge these vehicles with ease?
“A lot of companies that have been on the fence from a cost perspective will now be able to reduce a great portion of the cost and that will get them to the finish line,” says Brian Levin, vice president at Carbon Day Automotive, a Chicago-based startup that’s the Midwest distributor of electric car charging stations manufactured by Coulomb Technologies of Campbell, Calif. “We think this (rebate program) will set the tone that it’s okay to buy an electric vehicle because more charging stations will be available.”
I-GO CarSharing, a non-profit member organization that loans cars for short-term use, hasn’t applied for any rebates with the new program even though it’s moving forward with a plan to boost its own electric car fleet and the charging stations it will need to power them.
The non-profit already has seven charging stations installed around Chicago for eight electric cars in its total fleet of 235 vehicles. A handful more are in the process of going up in public parking lots in downtown Evanston, which will be connected to solar canopies so the energy source for those stations will be renewable, says Sharon Feigen, CEO of I-GO, which is a division of the Center for Neighborhood Technology. There are plans to grow the electric fleet to a total of 36 cars with 36 charging stations.
The state’s rebate program, along with a combination of more city investment in fast-charging stations and continued rebates for electric cars, will push hesitant Chicago consumers to take the plunge and buy electric, Ms. Feigen predicts.
“I think there is this range anxiety people have — it’s a fear that they’ll run out of power and have nowhere to charge,” she says. “In reality, most trips aren’t that long for people who live in the city especially. But having that public infrastructure is a big reassurance to electric car owners because if they need to charge it while they’re out, they’ll have that opportunity if there’s more charging stations.”
A massive billboard for the electric Nissan Leaf hovers over the busy intersection at North, Damen, and Milwaukee Avenues, just a few blocks from I-GO CarSharing and CNT’s offices in Wicker Park. Ms. Feigen hopes the DCEO’s rebate program helps speed up the time to the day those vehicles aren’t considered a novelty.
“Electric cars are part of the future of the car world,” asserts Ms. Feigen.
“We’re not going to have oil forever and this is a really good way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
IN OTHER GREEN NEWS:
Chicago has been selected as the host city for the 2013 Sustainable Meetings Conference, according to the Green Meeting Industry Council (GMIC). Hundreds of meeting planners from around the world and companies that supply eco-friendly goods and services to those events will gather locally next April. The GMIC conference is among a handful of upcoming industry group meetings in Chicago with a sustainability focus. In October, the 10th annual Green Roofs conference will convene in Chicago, and the city will welcome tens of thousands of attendees from all corners of the globe next spring for the Solar Power International Conference.
