Ford finds Chicago well-prepared for electric cars

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

Chicago is among Ford Motor Co.’s list of Top 25 cities most ready for electric vehicles, thanks to a growing number of charging stations and thinking ahead about how the electric grid will handle greater numbers of alternative-energy cars.

Ford is gearing up to launch the Focus Electric later this year and the C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid in 2012, so it has a stake in how easily drivers can find the juice to keep the cars running while not overburdening the electric grid.

Carbon Day, a Chicago-based charging station distributor, has set up 100 electric-vehicle charging stations at private and public sites throughout the region, and is looking to install another 150 to 200 stations this year. Chicago also has signed a $1.9 million contract with California-based 350Green to install 280 charging stations regionwide. Well-known companies Siemens AG, General Electric Co., Eaton Corp. and Leviton Manufacturing Co. have also announced plans to introduce their own charging stations later this year.

Chicago’s recognition was influenced by governments’ efforts to plan for an expected surge in electric vehicle use.

The Illinois Commerce Commission is studying how to urge electric- and hybrid-car drivers to plug in during off-peak hours and how to offer them real-time electricity pricing plans. ComEd has asked for money from a rate hike to test the impact of electric vehicles and their charging stations on the electric grid.

Other cities on the list, which were not designed in any particular order, were Austin, Texas, where alternative-fuel vehicle drivers get to use HOV lanes; Honolulu, where parking lots and garages with at least 100 parking spaces must set aside at least 1 percent of their spots for electric vehicles by year-end, and Houston, where a streamlined permit process gives electricians immediate on-line approval to install chargers as-is or make upgrades.

The list comes out on the day that federal officials announced that electric cars will total 1.2 million in 2015, meeting President Obama’s goal of having more than 1 million electric vehicles on the road by that time.