Are Electric Cars The New “In” Thing?
It will be nice when the car charging stations are at any place that the person needs them to be. I am still hesitant about it though. Who wants to sit there for a couple of hours or more to have their car charged? It still seems like an inconvenience to me. But for the people who don’t mind doing that, I think that the article below is right. It will be well worth it. But who is to know when the charging stations will have come that far.
GENEVA — Kane County has no electric vehicles in its fleet, but the county is preparing for a day when the vehicles become more common — both for the county and the public.
Wednesday, the county Energy and Environmental Committee received a presentation from Car Charging Inc., a company that provides charging stations for electric cars.
“Electric car charging is … in its infancy,” committee Chairman Barb Wojnicki said.
Owners of electric and hybrid cars can charge them in their homes. The public charging stations would offer convenience for those farther from home, at a higher level of power so that a charge would take about two to three hours. A home charge could take up to six to eight hours.
Car Charging, based in Florida, has installed charging sites across the United States. The company installs, maintains and services charging locations, and reimburses governments based on the charges to the customer from operating the charging equipment.
Donna Clark, representing the firm, told the committee they usually try to place the charging stations in areas where people will be staying for the two to three hours of the charge, such as movie theaters or parks.
“You need to have something to do,” she said.
They could install multiple stations in one location so that people do not have to wait for hours to be able to use the machine, she said.
Clark said there are no area counties using the electric car chargers yet, but she is talking with people who are interested.
More companies are supposed to be rolling out electric car models within the next year. As these models are rolled out, ownership is expected to rise.
Board member Philip Lewis said he was excited to be preparing for more electric cars in the area.
“I think this is an excellent opportunity for us, being in government,” he said.
Wojnicki said that she would like to see the county work with area municipalities to find the ideal locations for the stations.
Read the full and original article from the Chicago Sun-Times online addition here.