EV Charging
To Soldier Field & back
An electric vehicle (EV) can take you to so many places in the region, including the 50-ish-mile trip from Lake County to see the Bears. Why does this matter? More than 80% of roundtrip daily commutes in the U.S. are 50 miles or less. Modern EVs have a range of 100–250 miles on a single charge. The math favors this emission-free technology.
Charging an EV costs less than the price of gasoline for the same mileage. According to the EPA, the electricity used to charge your EV produces a smaller carbon footprint than gas-powered cars. Save your gas money and recharge on campus.
Why an EV?
EVs create less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the lifetime of the car than their gas-powered counterparts. Greenhouse gas emissions cause climate change. The result of GHGs is the air pollution, food supply shortages and wildfires we’re experiencing.
Since drivers in the U.S. tend to keep their gas cars for at least eight years, switching to an EV makes economic and environmental sense.
Charging station benefits
At CLC: Smaller footprint
In 2019 students, faculty and staff traveled almost 23 million miles commuting to and from CLC. Commuting contributes over 28% of CLC’s production of greenhouse gases. The EPA says transportation accounts for more than 25% of greenhouse gas emissions nationwide, so we’re commuting more than the national average.
CLC is reducing its ecological footprint by increasing the affordability and accessibility of alternative modes of transportation like electric vehicles. To do this we’re:
- adding and installing more wallet-friendly electric vehicle level II charging stations
- identifying opportunities to replace existing Campus Fleet vehicles with more efficient electric and hybrid vehicles
- providing parking space incentives for commuters driving EVs and other low emission vehicles to campus
- supporting inclusion of EV technology, renewable energy and energy efficiency in existing and new courses
In Lake County: Charge it
Lake County has plenty of publicly accessible charging stations for electric vehicle owners. CLC has free EV charging stations around the Grayslake campus. The Lake County Courthouse has a charging station near the Lakeshore Campus in Waukegan.
Around the world: Aiming to reduce GHG
The global community is harnessing the power of electric vehicles to advance mobility, spur economic development and reduce emissions.
The largest producer of GHG, China, is funding research into new energy vehicles. They also require automakers to achieve fuel efficiency of more than 54 MPG by 2025. Lawmakers in the third largest producer, India, put forth a policy to sell only EVs by 2030.