Wheeling approves electric vehicles on village streets
A few minutes after Bill Hein's impassioned "Don't kill NEVs in this town!" plea, the Wheeling village board voted to allow the neighborhood electric vehicles with a 5-2 vote on Monday.
The slow moving vehicles will only be allowed on streets with speed limits of 35 mph or less. Drivers can only cross faster streets, such as Dundee Road and Milwaukee Avenue, if there is a four-way stop sign or traffic light.
"Gas is back up to $3 a gallon and these cars are coming, so we should be ready," said Trustee Dave Vogel, who voted in favor of the idea along with trustees Ray Lang, Ken Brady, Dean Argiris and Village President Judy Abruscato. Trustees Patrick Horcher and Robert Heer voted against electric vehicles.
"I see this as the Betamax of our time," said Horcher, referring to Sony's ill-fated video recording technology before casting his no vote.
Hein pitched the concept to trustees about a year ago. But concerns about the safety of mixing the small, slow vehicles with cars and state laws that prohibit the vehicles on state and county roads kept trustees from considering the idea then. State laws and safety concerns haven't changed, but the Wheeling board has a newly elected village president and two new members. Hein, a former village president, publicly endorsed Judy Abruscato in April's election.
In early June, Hein - who has formed a company to market the vehicles - put on another presentation for Wheeling trustees and asked them to reconsider the matter.
It will be more than a month before people are allowed to drive the golf-cart like vehicles on Wheeling's streets because police will have to make a traffic plan on which streets are safe for the vehicles, said Wheeling Police Chief John Stone.
Stone told the village board he is against the idea of electric vehicles on Monday. Stone said there are only two places in town where electric vehicles will be allowed to cross busy streets - at Wolf and Strong roads and Northgate and Dundee roads.
"I foresee people violating the law right and left," said Stone, while Hein shook his head in disagreement a few rows behind him. "They can't get from the east side of town to the west side of town. - They will be nothing but a hazard for our village."
However Abruscato defended the cars.
"I don't think 100 people are going to go out and buy an electric car tomorrow," she said. "We will have stiff laws and people will have to obey them."
The two-person carts cost $5,000 to $9,000. A multi-person vehicle would cost $9,000 to $11,000. The vehicles come with headlights and eight batteries that charge when plugged in. They can travel 60 to 70 miles per charge.