Chicagoland area

[DougWantsALeaf]

Releaf,

I also saw my first Lyric on 94 into the city last week. The landscape is certainly getting more diverse for EVs. Bolts are appearing in greater numbers now too.

[redLEAF]

Well ... Chicagoland quite close to the 50K EL plate count ... saw 4999x EL on a Hyundai IONIQ 5 tooling around the North Shore.

Actually we're past the 60K EL plate count now ... saw 600xx EL on a White Tesla Model Y ... also, even though October is a hiatus for the IL EPA rebate program they are updating how many rebates they are awarding and it looks like the upper income folks who submitted are getting some of this money --- take a look if your an IL resident who purchased an EV recently (new or used)

https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/ce ... bates.aspx

After a few more months since the last post we're past the 65xxx EL plate sighting now -- on a Rivian pick-up. The IL EPA rebate program ended on January 31st -- they may get more funding, we'll see. Saw a Cadillac Lyriq in the wild for this first time -- quite a rare finding with so few produced. Tesla still dominates and with the latest price reductions that will probably continue. Planning a few long road trips with my Tesla Model 3 AWD coming late spring and early summer so we'll see if other areas of the country have any surprises.

Perhaps the ramp up is taking a bit longer (at least longer than I expected) but saw 703xxEL on a Model X yesterday - probably as IL SOS now allows plate transfers from non-EL cars it will continue its current pace. The IL EV rebate program did end at the end of January, still waiting for more funds and of course the Fed Tax Credit seems to be in a constant state of change. Just returned from a great trip south - Tesla Supercharger network just gets better with each trip - hit all fast(er) chargers with typically 10 to 20 minute charge times -- I do wish the 3rd party charger companies would step up their game, no one even comes close to Tesla in both reliability and shear numbers of locations -- we'll see how fast Tesla starts offering non-Tesla access in the future. A few more neighbors with Tesla's and one with a BMW iX (beautiful car! - other than that massive front grill) are showing up now -- love to see some more Chicagoland EV sighting posts!

[DougWantsALeaf]

See many non Teslas at the superchargers yet.

[redLEAF]

Here is a great info site on that program from Tesla --

https://www.tesla.com/support/non-tesla ... r-benefits

Current Tesla drivers should like this comment due to concerns over possible issues with congestion in the future -

'We’re starting with a select number of sites so that we can review the experience, monitor congestion and assess feedback before expanding. Future sites will only be opened to non-Tesla vehicles if there is available capacity.'

https://www.tesla.com/findus?v=2&bounds ... ters=party

The link above highlights the non-Tesla capable locations on the east coast -- they have a few in CA as well -- none in Midwest or South as I also didn't encounter any (yet) on my recent trip -- Tesla and non-Tesla charging is quite common in Europe. We have a 2nd EV - BMW i3. So if they do start a few closer to home might give them a try. If the experience for non-Tesla's is anywhere near what I get on every long trip I've taken with my Tesla it should continue the popularity of using EV's on more than short commutes. Hopefully their ramp up goes well -- seem to have a solution for the short cable issue -- starting in Europe so far
https://www.arenaev.com/tesla_opens_fir ... s-1668.php