Route 66 gets electric car charging stations

Electric Cars 2A portion of historic Route 66 will soon be getting a network of electric vehicle charging stations. This will allow drivers of all-electric cars to drive the 300 mile stretch from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River near St. Louis and not worry about running out of juice. Maybe this will spark a new way of traveling the Mother Road from Chicago to Santa Monica.

Supported by automakers with technical help from the University of California at Davis, the $1 million project should be finished by summer.

Charging stations will be built in Plainfield, Dwight, Pontiac, Normal, Lincoln, Springfield, Carlinville and Edwardsville. There will be at least one fast-charging station at each stop that can charge a car in 15 to 20 minutes