Chicago, commonly referred to as the "Windy City" perhaps fittingly now holds the title of having the first wind powered electric vehicle charging station in the U.S. Officially, the station is located in Highland Park, Illinois, a suburb a distant 30 miles from the downtown region. The charging station was installed by Coulomb Technologies through their Midwest distributor Carbon Day Automotive.
The charging station is powered by a electricity generated from a nearby wind farm. The Coulomb unit is located outside of a local law firm who has been receiving power via wind through an agreement with MC Squared Services LLC.
The law firm, Emalfarb Swan & Bain released a statement about the wind powered charging station. Hal Emalfarb, a law firm partner said, "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."
Emalfarb will benefit from the new power supply. He currently drives a Toyota Prius that has been converted over to a plug-in hybrid setup.
The wind power charging station joins a slowly growing list of worldwide electric vehicle charging stations powered by environmentally friendly sources. Whether it be wind, sun, or water power, each is a viable form of clean energy that could provide easily accessible power for future EVs.
Source: Edmunds.com
