Simon Kicks Off Electric Vehicle Road Trip, Encourages Employers to Take the Charging Pledge

Statewide trip will promote, advance EV infrastructure

CARTERVILLE – Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon today kicked off a two-day road trip to promote electric vehicle infrastructure and challenged more Illinois employers to offer charging stations for their workers.

The Electric Vehicle Road Trip, organized by the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN), began at John A. Logan Community College and will stop at 11 community colleges that provide electric vehicle charging stations for students, faculty and staff.

The U.S. Department of Energy wants a tenfold increase in the number of U.S. employers offering workplace charging in the next five years. Simon said that Illinois community colleges are taking the lead in reaching this sustainability goal.

“I am pleased to see Illinois’ community colleges are taking the lead in using and promoting sustainable technology,” said Simon. “By making charging stations available on campus, schools are not only supporting safe and reliable EV technology and our environment, they are also making it more convenient for employees who own or are considering an electric vehicle to charge at the workplace.”

Starting at JALC, a team of students, sustainability experts and IGEN staff will travel north completing the trip at the College of Lake County in Grayslake. The road trip is supported by the Offices of the Governor and Lt. Governor, the Illinois Office of Tourism, the IGEN, Nissan, Chargepoint and Green Wheels USA.

Those interested in following the team’s progress can do so by visiting the IGEN Facebook and Twitter pages. The team is expected to be joined by “MiniAbe,” the state’s tourism ambassador as they make charging stops at locations including the Executive Mansion in Springfield.

“The electric vehicle has come a long way in just the last five years, but even as sales rise, some pesky problems persist,” said Lewis and Clark Community College Director of Sustainability Nate Keener, lead organizer for the event. “Range anxiety and battery concerns, for example, continue to plague the mind of the potential electronic vehicle consumer. With this trip, we hope to chase away some of those fears and show that it actually is possible to drive great distances in electric and hybrid vehicles.”

The IGEN is a consortium of all 39 Illinois community college districts across the state working to grow the green economy of Illinois. Its mission is to provide a platform for collaboration among all Illinois community colleges and their partners to drive growth of the green economy.

For more information about the Electric Vehicle Road Trip, visit the IGEN website at www.igencc.org.