Amped up about electric car

Joseph Mikulecky, a member of the Pontiac Rotary Club, is also on the Bloomington-Normal Electric Vehicle Task Force and on Tuesday combined both entities.
Mikulecky, who is employed as an engineering manager for Farnsworth Group with an office in Pontiac, drove an electrical vehicle to Pontiac from Normal and then drove it to the Pontiac Family Kitchen where a noon weekly meeting of the Pontiac Rotary Club was being held.
“I wanted my fellow Rotarians to have a chance to see this car up close,” said Mikulecky, who is the incoming president for the Rotarians. He will take over the position from outgoing president Mark Donovan July 1.
The vehicle is actually a Mitsubishi I and is being leased by the city of Normal.
He said the vehicle has an 85-mile range for travel on a full charge.
“I used up 35 miles from the Normal Town Hall to Pontiac today. I am going to be charging it again in Pontiac this afternoon just to make sure,” Mikulecky said. “I am in practice today because I am planning on taking it to Dwight tomorrow for the Dwight Rotary Club meeting.”
He said he drove at 56 mph from Normal to Pontiac.
Mikulecky said there is a range indicator in the vehicle that tells the motorist how many miles have been used and how many more there are to go.
He said that when he charges the car on a regular 110-volt electrical outlet at home it takes 10 hours to charge.
“By the end of this year there will be 33 charging stations in Normal that will be serviced by 220 volts so that will make charging these cars much quicker,” he said. ”There are going to be 270 charging stations in Chicago by the end of the year. Each of these will also be 220 volts.”
Mikulecky went on to explain that there are already five stations installed in Normal, two at the City Hall and three in the College Avenue Parking Garage, with the remaining 28 to be installed in and around Normal.
“These will be free to use, as the city was able to purchase these stations with federal stimulus money. Different places have different practices. Some cities charge a monthly access fee, while some put in charging stations that require credit cards. Both those things add to the cost of a station and Normal has opted not to charge.”
He added that the cost to charge the vehicle he is driving for a couple of days is $1.50 for a round-trip from Normal to Pontiac.
“I really like this car. It’s quiet running and handles well. It’d make my round-trip drives much easier.”
Mikulecky lives in Bloomington and travels to Pontiac every day for work.
However, he said the vehicle being leased by Normal that he brought is actually a European model, with the U.S. model scheduled to come out soon.
“This is kind of the basic car, it has a radio and CD player. But the U.S. cars will have navigation systems and stereo upgrades, we like our creature comforts.”
He said the Mitsubishi I has front air bags, but the American version will also have to have side air bags and meet other federal safety guidelines.
People wishing to learn more about electric vehicles may go to www.evtown.org.

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