NORMAL — As part of the EVTown effort, the Town of Normal recently awarded 10 free electric vehicle charging stations to six Normal businesses.

The Town of Normal offered the 10 free EV charging stations to local businesses through its Electric Vehicle Charging Station Grant Program that was initiated on November 29, 2011 and funded through a $488,500 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Normal the $488,500 grant for the purchase of 33 EV charging stations.
According to Normal Planner Mercy Davison, eight applicants requested a total of 16 stations.
“We only had 10 to give away,” said Davison. “We had guidelines that we put out in the request for the proposals and it involves how much of the public would be served by it, what kind of visitor base they have. We were looking for geographic distribution because we want to cover as much of the community as possible. We looked for other commitments they have made toward supporting electric vehicles.”
Of the businesses to receive the stations, Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, 1304 Franklin Ave., received three; Shoppes at College Hills, 314 Towanda Ave., received two; Constitution Trail Center, 1720 Bradford Ln., received two; Commerce Bank, 15 E. College Ave., received one; Holiday Inn Express, 1715 Parkway Plaza, received one; and Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, 201 Broadway St., received one.
As part of the grant program, the six businesses have agreed to make the stations available to the public for free for at least five years. The businesses are responsible for installation cost, ongoing maintenance and the installation of Town-approved EV charging station signage. They must install the stations by April 30.
Already, the Town of Normal has installed two EV charging stations at Normal City Hall, 100 E. Phoenix Ave., and three stations at the College Avenue Parking Deck, 101 W. Mulberry St., with the funds from the U.S. Department of Energy grant. Stations have been purchased for Illinois State University, Heartland Community College and other entities located in Normal, with the grant funds.
The EV charging stations purchased with the grant funds are Level 2 chargers. Through a 240V, AC plug, a Level 2 charging stations can recharge a fully depleted battery in an electric vehicle in 4 to 6 hours.
According to Normal Mayor Chris Koos, around 50 EV charging stations will be operating in Normal this summer, as part of the EVTown effort.
O’Brien Mitsubishi, 1601, Fort Jesse Rd., Normal, is the only automotive dealership outside of the west coast to sell the 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV. They received their first shipment of 2012 i-MiEVs last week.
Among the first to receive the i-MiEVs were employees of the Town of Normal. The Town of Normal is leasing six i-MiEVs for one-year. Various town departments are using the i-MiEVs as fleet vehicles.
“The Town has fleet cars that we use in our daily operations,” said Davison. “Every year we replace some of our cars as they get older, so as part of our vehicle replacement, we looked to the fleet to see where would electric vehicles make sense. The departments that got them based on the fact that they need a new fleet car and their uses were really suitable to an electric car.”
Two of the EVs are being used by parking enforcement workers; one by fire inspectors; one by the facilities management department; one by the information technology department; and one by Koos.
The Town of Normal decided to lease the EVs from Mears Motors Leasing for $147,580 because they can receive a federal incentive of $30,000 through a lease agreement with the Florida-based dealership.
At the end of the one-year lease, the town can buy out the remainder of the lease for $1.
The EVTown effort is an effort to establish Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, as a model electric vehicle community. The effort is driven by a coalition of business officials, government representatives and other interested stakeholders who firmly believe electric vehicles offer tremendous benefits to individual vehicle owners, businesses and the greater community.
To learn more about the EVTown effort, visit www.evtown.org.