280 charging stations coming to area

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Chicago will gain new jobs and the city and suburbs will gain 280 electric vehicle charging stations by year end after the city reached a deal with a California company.

The city has signed a $1.9 million contract with the company, 350Green LLC, to roll out the charging stations, which will give Chicago the necessary infrastructure to support automakers who want to sell their electric and plug-in hybrid cars here. Plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles include batteries that must be charged.

Mariana Gerzanych, the CEO of 350Green, said Thursday that her company will create jobs in Chicago and relocate some of its operations here because Chicago is its largest client. She declined to be more specific, since the city is expected to make a formal announcement next week.

“Chicago is a great market where we can show the nation how the full charging infrastructure can operate,” said Gerzanych, a native of Ukraine and a statistical analyst who previously ran a hybrid fleet company called EnviroRide. Gerzanych sold her stake in EnviroRide to run 350Green.

The three-year-old 350Green currently has 10 employees.

The charging stations will comprise fast chargers of 480 volts and Level 2 chargers of 240 volts. A typical charger in a person’s home or garage has 120 volts.

Gerzanych said the fastest chargers are placed in public places where people park for less than 30 minutes, while the Level 2 chargers are usually put in shopping mall lots and other sites where people stay for more than an hour. That’s because the fastest chargers can fully charge an electric car in about 30 minutes, while Level 2 chargers take 90 minutes to four hours.

The company will install, own, operate and maintain 73 sites throughout the area, according to the contract. Among the sites are O’Hare and Midway airports and some retailers’ parking lots.

The cost to consumers using the stations has not been determined. 350Green will pay $8.77 million in upfront costs, and expects to receive $1.9 million of that back from grant money. The money comes from federal stimulus dollars. The company will share no revenue with the city or the state.