Skokie and Glencoe were two of 12 Illinois communities honored by the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Commonwealth Edison for completing a new electronic vehicle readiness program.
The municipalities received recognition on Dec. 7 following their participation in the new enterprise with an overall goal of enhancing electronic vehicle usage.
“With guidance and resources assembled by the Caucus’ EV Readiness Team, municipal leaders develop clear permitting for EV charging infrastructure, analyze zoning and parking codes to address barriers to EV infrastructure, engage the community, and participate in technical and safety training for staff,” the Caucus explained in a news release. “Municipalities may also tailor actions to suit the needs of their own community.”
More Top Picks Best Robotic Pool Cleaners
In Skokie, there are four charging stations for public use, including one at the intersection of Oakton Street and LaCrosse Avenue, set up to accommodate ADA parking requirements.
Moreover, there are four electric vehicles in Skokie’s municipal fleet and village officials believe there are now 819 electric vehicles registered to residents, a sharp spike from 295 in 2022, according to the village.
“Achieving ‘EV Ready’ designation underscores Skokie’s leadership on climate issues and brings us closer to achieving the goals outlined in the Village’s Environmental Sustainability Plan,” Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen said in a statement. “With transportation accounting for more than a third of our community’s greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating EV usage by removing potential roadblocks to ownership and greenlighting charging infrastructure will pave the way to cleaner air and lower emissions benefiting our entire community.”
In Glencoe, Management Analyst Jeff Mawdsley described what the village did to receive the designation.
“We explicitly identified EVs in our Village Code, and made some modifications to make sure that we were accommodating them,” Mawdsley wrote. “For example, we changed our parking requirements to specify that parking spots with EV charging stations counted toward the minimum number of parking spaces. We ensured that we had a clear process for residents to get permits to install EV chargers and developed a handout to guide residents and contractors through that process.”
Mawdsley added the village publicized electric vehicle purchase incentives, created an electric vehicle page on the village website and trained some of its public safety officers on how to handle traffic crashes involving electric vehicles.
The village has an electric vehicle charging station at its Village Court parking lot, has two electric vehicles in its fleet and there has been 27% growth in the number of electric vehicles owned by village residents since last year, according to Mawdsley.
The other 10 communities as part of the inaugural cohort were Carol Stream, Darien, Deer Park, Geneva, Hampshire, Hanover Park, Maywood, Oak Park, Polo and University Park.
Evanston, Highland Park, Northbrook and Wilmette are all part of the second cohort that launched this summer, according to the Caucus.
Daniel I. Dorfman is a freelance reporter with Pioneer Press.