Kane panel powering up for influx of electric vehicles likely in future

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Updated: November 30, 2011 12:24AM

The future for electric vehicles in Kane County is now.

Major automobile manufacturers are rolling out plans for increasing the number of electric vehicles in production as soon as 2012, and the Chicago region factors heavily into their marketing plans.

Kane County officials are aware that infrastructure plans need to catch up. There need to be places for people to charge their vehicles, and a plan for dealing with the increase in power consumption, officials said.

On Thursday, the county began an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure task force to deal with these demands.

“Currently there’s a lack of infrastructure,” task force Chairman Mike Donahue, R-Geneva, said. “I believe it’s better to get out in front of this.”

The task force is formed with representatives from several related industries, and several Kane County municipalities. Donahue said that he wants to have an ordinance in place to deal with guidelines, standards and placement for electric vehicle infrastructure by May of 2012.

Task force members were given the chance to discuss the strategy. ComEd representative Dan Gabel mentioned that the power requirements are so high to charge an automobile, that having several on one transformer could eventually pose a problem.

The larger grid will be able to handle the increased power, he said.

“It’s these localized pieces of equipment that will be more susceptible,” he said.

Donahue also suggested that the ordinance deal with a way to address “range anxiety.” This phenomenon is the concern among electric car owners over how long their current charge will last.

“They have to find places to plug in,” he said.

Carbon Day Vice President Brian Levin told the task force that there are ways to make sure there is connectivity with the stations. His company produced charging stations in several locations in Chicago.

There are programs that will help electric vehicle owners find the nearest charging point.

“You can hit one button and it will literally tell you where all the closest stations are,” Levin said.

They also have a system that will send the driver a text message when the vehicle is done being charged. This will be useful in case a charge is interrupted for some reason. Charging the vehicle can take up to three to four hours, so people will want to be doing something while they wait.

Levin also said that his company does not set the fee for charging at a station. That will be up to the owner of the station, he said. People will be able to pay with a credit card, or by creating a pass and loading an initial balance on it.

Levin suggested creating some form of incentive for people with electric vehicles, such as a discount on city stickers, license plates or tolls. Donahue said that these kinds of incentives could be part of the ordinance, to encourage people to switch to electric vehicles.

The vehicles themselves may be slightly more expensive than a gasoline-powered car, but the cost of electricity is cheaper and more stable than gas, Donahue said.

A subcommittee will meet at the end of September to begin the process of drafting a model ordinance for Kane County.