Chicago-Area EV Charging Station Is Continental U.S.'s First Powered by Wind

Chicago-Area EV Charging Station Is Continental U.S.'s First Powered by Wind

By Scott Doggett January 25, 2010

By Danny King, Contributor

It appears that the first wind-powered electric-vehicle charging station in the continental U.S. is - you'd have probably guessed it - located near the Windy City.

Campbell. California-based EV-charging station maker Coulomb Technologies and its Midwest distributor,  Carbon Day Automotive, of Chicago, installed the EV-charging station in Highland Park, roughly 30 miles from Chicago.

The charging station is powered by electricity generated by wind farms for Highland Park-based law firm Emalfarb Swan & Bain, Carbon Day said in a statement Friday.

"By integrating renewable energy, in this case, the prairie winds of Illinois, to power our office and our cars, we have seamlessly accomplished the goal of a cleaner grid that leads to a reduction of greenhouse gases," said Hal Emalfarb, an Emalfarb partner who drives a Toyota Prius that was converted into a plug-in hybrid.

The firm's office building has been using juice from Illinois wind farms through an agreement with MC Squared Energy Services LLC, which arranges for the clean energy to be piped to commercial businesses.

Coulomb, which deployed its first ChargePoint station in 2008, is looking to bank on what it hopes will be a rapidly growing EV user base.

Last week, Coulomb said it was working with Aker Wade Power Technologies at developing rapid-charging stand-alone stations for EVs that will be marketed to gas station owners and other businesses looking to be part of a growing EV charging network.

Coulomb and Carbon Day previously collaborated on a solar-powered EV-charging station for Chicago's department of fleet management. There are about a dozen such stations in the world, including one built late last year in Brooklyn by renewable-energy business Beautiful Earth Group.

The Highland Park station is the first within the continental U.S. to be powered by wind. Last August, Maui Electric Co. installed a ChargePoint station on the Hawaiian island powered by wind turbines.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.