TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION

DESCRIPTION

The goal of the Transportation Electrification team is to increase adoption of electric vehicles in the Greater Chicago Area.  The group serves as a catalyst to increase EV ownership among consumers, businesses, and governmental units.  The team achieves this goal through education of consumers and car dealers, as well as advocacy for new local, state, and federal policies on electric vehicles.  The campaign includes continuing advocacy for electrification of public transit bus fleets of the CTA and Pace in the Chicago area. The group monitors state and federal policies for electrification of school buses and assists local school districts in qualifying  for electric school bus grants. 

The group has successfully used public campaigns, including petition drives and public hearing testimonies to win changes in policies, which has resulted in a commitment from the Pace board to end the purchase of fossil fuel buses.  The group collaborates with local environmental groups to advocate for fleet electrification.  Through our speakers bureau and education, members of the group have encouraged municipalities, commercial operators and consumers to understand the total cost of ownership advantages of electric vehicles.

Current Initiatives

  • Continue our activism to make Illinois adopt ACC-II and ACT by whatever means possible.  
  • Work on legislation, including outreach to other groups to create a capital bond fund for ANY school district in Illinois to receive a subsidy for the difference in cost between a fossil fuel school bus and an electric school bus.
  • Plan to do outreach to municipalities and corporations to encourage more EV technology by communicating about available funding options from ComEd, and government.  Continue to educate on the Total Costs of Ownership (TCO) of EVs.
  • Overall, there are 50% more charging stations in 2024 than 2023.  But while the 2021 Infrastructure Act aim was to deploy 500,000 EV charging stations nationwide, only 19 were installed and only a few in IL.  Break the logjam and get level 2 and level 3 installed.

team LEAD

Bruce Mainzer

Tom Coleman

» EMAIL TOM

Meetings

Monthly on 3rd Mondays, 6:00pm
(Check our calendar for more details.)

^ Chapter members only

(If you’re a chapter member and still need access, click through to request to be added.)

Resources

Electric Vehicles FAQ:  » LINK