Elk Horn, Iowa installs first electric car charging stations in new "Pony Express" lane

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, USA

Elk Horn, Iowa’s website says it is located, “In the heart of Southwest Iowa’s picturesque countryside.” Google Maps shows just how remote the town is, so it is clear that to make this place a forward-thinking electric vehicle destination takes a bit of chutzpah. While most EV advocates and manufacturers see electric cars as urban runabouts for the near future, Elk Horn businessman Mike Howard thinks that it makes sense to build eight EV charging stations in town. Four – one is solar, the others are connected to the grid – are already installed and four more are coming soon. Howard told the AP that the stations are like some famous horse exchange locations from Western U.S. history, “This is a modern-day Pony Express,” he said. Expanding out from Elk Horn, Howard wants to build more of the $6,000 stations along Highway 80 – all the way from Chicago to Denver. That’s what we call ambition.

Currently, there are 96 EVs registered in Iowa, out of over 4 million total. At the very least, the one EV registered in Elk Horn – a converted Chevy S-10 – will never need to wait for an open outlet.

[Source: AP via Autopia]

Elk Horn, Iowa installs first electric car charging stations in new “Pony Express” lane originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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