Governor Quinn signs two electric vehicle bills as I-GO CEO, Sharon Feigon, and EV project manager, Jonathan Goldman, look on.

Gov. Patrick Quinn signed two bills over the weekend that will foster the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Illinois. CNT’s affiliate, I-GO Car Sharing, has been instrumental in promoting EV deployment and advocating for passage of the two bills. I-GO CEO Sharon Feigon spoke at the bill signing.

Later this year I-GO will install 18 solar canopy charging stations to power its 36 electric vehicles with emissions-free electricity. Sign up for I-GO to be one of the first in the city to drive an EV. Be sure to follow I-GO on Twitter to stay up to date on the exciting EV project developments.

House Bill 2902 puts in place a framework for electric vehicle policy development for the state. The bill creates an Electric Vehicle Coordinator position within the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. This person will serve as the Quinn Administration’s point person on all things related to EVs. The bill also creates an Electric Vehicle Advisory Committee, comprised of a representative from environmental organizations, industry and government. The committee will develop policy recommendations that will be shared with the governor and the General Assembly for action.

House Bill 2903 amends the Alternate Fuel Vehicle program at Illinois EPA to create a grant opportunity for car sharing organizations to receive funding for the purchase of EVs. The existing program provides rebates to owners of alternate fuel vehicles, using money from a vehicle fleet fee dedicated for this purpose. The program has been underutilized in recent years, and this bill will allow more of the funding to be used to meet the program goals.

HB 2902 was sponsored by Rep. Ann Williams and Sen. Susan Garrett, and HB 2903 was sponsored by Rep. Williams and Sen. Heather Steans.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 8th, 2011 at 2:56 pm and is filed under I-GO, Transportation and Community Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.