By now you probably know that Cheapflights has a penchant for keeping fliers plugged in – literally and figuratively. In the past few weeks we’ve talked about new electrical vehicle charging stations at Detroit Metro and Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall airports – as well as at the The Peabody Hotel in Memphis. The latest addition to this energy-conserving cadre is Chicago Midway Airport.
The Level II stations at MDW are 240 Volt, 7.2 kW affairs. You’ll find them in the Hourly Parking area, on the ground level of the main Terminal Parking Garage. That’s directly across from the “blue” terminal elevator bank on pillar 1J. That should nail the location for you.
Midway, so far anyway, sports a pair of these stations. Each one will fully charge a car within three to eight hours. Parkers can top off their cars as needed. 1.5 hours of charging yields about a 20 to 25 percent full charge.
There’s already an EV charging station at far larger Chicago O’Hare International Airport. It’s been up and running at the main terminal garage since March.
While some charging stations at other airports—notably Detroit Metro—are free, the Chicago Midway and O’Hare stations are not. An hour-and-a-half’s charge will run you $4. You can put it on your credit card. If you subscribe monthly to a service called 350Greenthe airport says you get unlimited charging.
The City of Chicago is in stalling a network of 281 EV charging stations around the area. They’re supposed to be in place by the end of this year. The gear is funded by a federal grant and the stations are operated by 350Green LLC.
It will be instructive to see how fast charging stations gain traction with the traveling public. Chicago O’Hare International is the second-busiest airport in North America, according to Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA). Last year some 66.75 million passengers used the place. ORD is a major hub for both American and United.
Chicago Midway, a major launch pad for discount airline Southwest, accommodated just under 17.6 million fliers in 2010 according to ACI – NA. In terms of convenience, ORD is 18 miles from city center Chicago. Midway is a closer-in 10 miles distance. Both are linked to downtown via rail lines.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Zol87)
