Pritzker names state's first electric vehicles coordinator

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois will soon have its first electric vehicles coordinator.

Included in the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act energy reform that passed last year was a requirement that the state hire an electric vehicles coordinator within the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

On July 1, Gov. J.B. Pritzker appointed Megha Lakhchaura to that role at a salary of $180,000 annually. She'll lead the state's push to put 1 million EVs on the roads by 2030 through a number of incentives and the rollout of expanded charging infrastructure.

She previously served since 2018 as the director of policy in North America for EVBox, an electric vehicle supply equipment company based in Amsterdam. Prior to that she was policy director for the rooftop solar and battery storage provider Sunrun Inc. and was a public utilities regulatory analyst for the California Public Utilities Commission.