http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-electric-cars-16-may16,0,7672543.storyIt took about six months, but Joe Downing finally broke free from the pump.
The Sugar Grove man recently converted his 1996 Ford Escort to run on electricity, shrinking the estimated cost of his weekly commute from around $32 to about $10.
With the average price of gasoline in the Chicago area topping $4 a gallon for the first time Thursday, electric car owners who once were mere curiosities on society's fringes are now viewed with renewed interest as they zip alongside motorists suffering skyrocketing fuel prices. The average price of regular, unleaded gasoline locally hit a record $4.027 a gallon Thursday, according to the AAA.
Downing spends less than $2.50 to recharge his car at home, but now he can do it for free at a charging station recently opened in Aurora, one of a handful of such places around Chicago.
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