Roeland Park announced that the first charging station for electric vehicles within the State of Kansas has been installed at the Roeland Park City Hall and is available for use by the public.

RoelandParkis proud to have in attendance Kansas Governor-Elect Sam Brownback, the Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Roeland Park resident and member of the Mid-America Electric powered Automobile Association Don Buckshot will be the charging station’s first customer, fueling an electric vehicle on site.

RoelandParkis part of the Greater Kansas City Plug-in Readiness Task Force, which is developing and implementing plans to ready the area for the arrival of plug-in vehicles. The task force is sponsored by the Mid-America Regional Council and the KC Regional Clean Cities Coalition. Their efforts will make a difference in the region’s ability to secure the economic and environmental benefits of plug-in vehicles.

Electric vehicles are being released by nearly all of the major auto manufacturers including Nissan, Ford and GM. In fact, the first Nissan LEAF and Chevrolet Volt within the United States were delivered last week. Automobile manufacturers are focusing their efforts on a handful of initial markets for the first few months, however national releases are expected in mid to late 2011.

“Recognizing the rapidly approaching change in transportation, we felt it was important for the City of Roeland Park to take a first step towards creating electric vehicle infrastructure within our region,” said Roeland Park Councilmember Megan England. “We are extremely proud to be recognized as leaders within our region and to have Governor-Elect Brownback here to mark the occasion with us.”

The charging station was manufactured by Coulomb Technologies, a leader in electric vehicle charging solutions and has stations located worldwide. LilyPad EV the reseller of Coulomb ChargePoint stations for both Kansas and Missouri congratulates Roeland Park on being leaders of this initiative.

“By taking this bold step, Roeland Park is helping pave the way for the adoption of plug in vehicles in the area,” said Larry Kinder of LilyPad EV.