Walgreens to install electric car charging stations

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Hali Sittig (left), 350Green project manager, explains how the station works to Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson and Gov. Quinn at a store in Oak Park Tuesday. | Curtis Lehmkuhl~Sun-Times Media

Updated: May 22, 2011 12:21AM

Walgreens will begin installing 30 more stations for recharging electric vehicles, the drugstore retailer said Tuesday while showing off a station at its newest Oak Park store.

The Oak Park store features a Level 2 electric vehicle charging station, which can add up to 25 miles of range per hour of charge, the Deerfield-based company said. Some 280 such stations are planned at various types of locations throughout the Chicago area.

“For our customers with electric vehicles, we will offer some of the area’s best corners to help give people the confidence to drive longer distances while having access to charging stations,” said Walgreens President and CEO Greg Wasson.

Walgreens is working with 350Green, the California-based company that is installing charging stations throughout Chicago.

Gov. Quinn toured the Oak Park store, which was built with a geothermal energy system that has reduced the store’s expected energy usage by 60 percent since it opened in October. The store’s geothermal system harnesses the earth’s heat with a network of four closed-loop boreholes installed 650 feet into the ground. A water-based heat transfer liquid exchanges heating and cooling energy with the earth.

Quinn credited the village of Oak Park for encouraging energy-efficient businesses. “Oak Park has seen the future, and it understands green practices,” Quinn said.

Other “green” features of the store include:

*Sales floor lighting has a dimming system that kicks in when natural sunlight is able to brighten most of the space.

*Polished concrete floors are made from recycled content and need less maintenance than vinyl flooring.

*In the lavatories, sinks are made from recycled content and hand dryers are powered by lights within the room.