SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and governors from Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin announced a partnership to collaborate on building an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure across the Midwest.
“Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act puts us on track to be the best state in the nation to manufacture and drive an electric vehicle – but we’re just getting started, and the work doesn’t stop at our state borders,” said Pritzker. “By working together with our Midwestern neighbors, we can accelerate the region’s growth in the transportation sector, create jobs across our communities, and prioritize the environment that makes the Great Lakes region so great along the way.”
The goal of the partnership is to create a network of EV charging stations to lessen the impact of “range anxiety” for prospective car buyers. With current generations of electric cars able to travel between 250 and 300 miles on a single charge, experts say the worry that an EV will leave them stranded on the highway when the battery runs out has been a significant hurdle to adoption of the vehicles.
Automakers and vehicle advocates have pointed out that most drivers travel an average 40 miles per day, and EV owners can top off the car’s battery at their home, overnight.
An estimated 105,000 new jobs in the utility sector are expected to be needed to deploy EV charging infrastructure by 2030.