Kendall County making limited progress on electric vehicle infrastructure

With a lofty goal of having one million electric vehicles registered in Illinois roads by 2030, several Kendall County area municipalities are busy studying their electric vehicle infrastructure options.

In the meantime, a couple of big box stores are opting to add them for their customers to increase foot-traffic and appeal to environmental stewards.

Currently, there are less than 900 electric vehicles registered in Kendall County and less than 94,000 in the State of Illinois, according to statistics from the Illinois Secretary of State.

Cars and trucks are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation, which include carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons which are harmful to human health and the environment. Since electric vehicles generate no tailpipe emissions, they play an important role in reducing air pollution and mitigating the effects of climate change, IDOT said.

Oswego

Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo, who has owned an electric vehicle himself for the past three years, said he purchased it to have an energy efficient vehicle and also to be on the front-end of technology.

With little maintenance, Di Santo only has had to worry about changing tires and windshield wipers.

“There is no engine, no parts that need to be maintained or can break down, no oil changes,” he said.

Di Santo primarily uses his electric vehicle to travel to work and back and, like many EV owners, charges his vehicle at home overnight.

For longer trips, his family typically uses a gas-powered minivan.

In terms of the evolvement of electric vehicles, he said, “When EVs first came out they were either slow or very expensive. The performance had to increase, and the cost had to decrease.”

Di Santo said car companies are making electric vehicles faster and more affordable.

The next two steps in technology will be faster charging and batteries that hold a charge longer so you can go a greater distance, he said.

Within the village of Oswego, there are 12 DC fast-charging Tesla Superchargers and eight DC fast-charging Electrify America stations at Meijer, two Level 2 Volta charging stations at Kohls and two Level 2 charging stations at Farmington Lakes apartment complex.

Di Santo said, “Across the Midwest, Meijer is a huge source of fast charging stations – based on their corporate model.”

Currently, one of the downsides of electric vehicles is it takes longer to charge your vehicle than to fill it up with a tank of gas – about 3 minutes in comparison to 15 minutes – so that affords the opportunity to potentially gain new customers, he said.

Di Santo explained that within the planning community there is some debate over placing charging stations in public areas because about 80% of electric vehicle owners charge their vehicles at home.

“This is complicated by multi-family” residential units, he added.

The village of Oswego has explored obtaining additional grants to install charging locations in downtown Oswego including the public parking garage at The Reserve at Hudson Crossing, which is owned by the village.

Currently, Oswego is looking to the market to guide the placement and type of EV charging stations, Di Santo said.

Due to fast moving changes in technology and charging standards, many automakers are adopting the TESLA charging port standard for their new cars and charging speeds are increasing with higher capacity charging stations, he said.

Di Santo noted that there are several levels of charging available for homeowners – level one, level two, and DC fast charging.

Personally, Di Santo has a level two charger which takes about three to four hours to completely charge.

Montgomery

In January, the village of Montgomery unveiled its electric vehicle readiness plan.

As part of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus EV Readiness Cohort, the Montgomery is seeking residential and business partners to join in their commitment to eco-friendly transportation.

The village has operated an electric vehicle charging station at Village Hall since 2019.

Now the village will work to encourage more charging stations in public parking lots and high-traffic locations, such as multi-family housing areas.

As part of the plan, the village is working to promote awareness and understanding of electric vehicles, while also dispelling common myths.

In addition, the Montgomery is exploring incentive programs to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles or working to connect residents/business owners with programs and incentives already in existence such as the IEPA Electric Vehicle Rebate Program, and the federal Commercial Clean Vehicle Tax Credit.

Village President Matt Brolley said, “Our commitment to Electric Vehicle Readiness underscores our dedication to a sustainable future. Investing time and resources into EV Readiness significantly reduces our carbon footprint and creates a cleaner, healthier Montgomery.”

Yorkville

Currently, Yorkville has one public EV charging station at the Kohl’s store, 945 Erica Lane.

City Administrator Bart Olson said he city does not keep track of the number of electric vehicle charging stations and, at the present time, there is no plan to add chargers.

The Illinois Electric Vehicle Charging law, which became effective on Jan. 1, requires all new single-family homes and multi-family buildings to be EV-ready, which means electric panels need to have the capacity and conduit for charging but does not require the installation of EV chargers.

“Our building and zoning codes now require new commercial and residential developments to add chargers into the development plan, depending on how many parking spaces they are required to have,” Olson said.

“Generally, we’re looking for one charger per 50 parking spaces required,” he said.

Matthew H. Asselmeier, director of Kendall County Planning, Building & Zoning, said that there are no plans to introduce electric vehicle charging stations in unincorporated Kendall County.

State funding for EV stations

The Illinois Department of Transportation earlier this year released the first official Notice of Funding Opportunity for Round One of the Illinois National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which will provide up to $50 million for the construction of 46 charging stations across the state.

“Ongoing EV adoption is a priority for my administration,” Gov. JB Pritzker said. “Thanks to the NEVI’s historic investment in clean energy infrastructure, we’re able to build an integrated network of charging stations in Illinois’ key travel corridors that will lead to new ridership.”

The Illinois NEVI program aims to accelerate the adoption of EVs by providing reliable access to charging on Illinois interstates and is part of a series of comprehensive initiatives to achieve the state’s goal of becoming a leader in manufacturing and deploying electric vehicles.

“This funding opportunity from IDOT puts us one step closer to achieving Gov. JB Pritzker’s goal to have one million EVs on Illinois roads by 2030,” Illinois Transportation Secretary Omer Osman aid. “I urge anyone interested to reach out to our staff and find out more as we work together to create jobs and economic opportunity while supporting greener transportation.”

Applications for funding must be submitted by 5 p.m. May 7.

A webinar recording on the funding opportunity and how to apply is posted on IDOT’s website for reference throughout the application period.

For more information, contact IDOT at dot.driveelectric@illinois.gov.