Glen Ellyn Charges into the Future ... of Electric Cars

Expecting the number of residents who will own electric vehicles will only increase in the future, the Village of Glen Ellyn is taking a green step forward. 

Soon, an electric charging station will be installed at a public parking lot downtown, which will allow an electric vehicle owner to park and plug in. 

The first charging station in the village will be installed later this month, said Julius Hansen, the village’s public works director. A contractor is lined up to do the work to install the charging station, which should take one day to complete.

The charging station will be located at the parking lot at Glenwood Avenue and Crescent Boulevard, he said. It will be installed in the southeast corner of the lot. 

Through a grant from the state of Illinois, the Village of Glen Ellyn will be paying half of the $7,500 cost for the charging station, he said.

“The way we are proposing it, at the beginning it will be free and they [car owners] can charge their car as long as they want,” Hansen said. “We want to make it free and get people interested.”

Not many municipalities offer electric car charging, Hansen said. In June 2012, there were roughly 8,000 public charging stations throughout the United States, with 2,000 found in California, according to Wikipedia, 

The number of residents who own electric cars was uncertain, he said, adding the expectation is that once the village puts the charger in electric vehicle owners will begin to take advantage of the opportunity.

“It will make it more convenient for people to use their car,” he said.

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