40 Fast & Ultrafast EV Chargers Installed Near Chicago Airport

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

Forty fast and ultrafast EV charging bays have been installed at an EV charging hub near Chicago O’Hare airport. The DC fast chargers can deliver up to 400 kW or 150 kW at the hub, which also has a canopy for shade and weather protection. The new chargers work with both NACS and CCS connectors.

“Opening our sixth major airport hub is a significant milestone in our commitment to expanding our EV charging network across the United States,” said Sujay Sharma, CEO of bp pulse Americas. “By strategically placing our hubs in high-demand locations like airports, we’re making it easier for drivers to access the fast and reliable charging they need. Locating this hub next to a bp retail site also means EV drivers can benefit from the convenient amenities already offered to customers today.”

The new fast EV charging hub is part of bp pulse’s network of charging hubs which has locations at airports in Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, and Houston. The network expanded in December with additional installations in Arizona, Texas, and Ohio.

Funding for the O’Hare charging hub came from the Illinois EPA’s Driving a Cleaner Illinois Program and the ComEd Make Ready Rebate program. 

Free wi-fi is available at the new charging hub and it is near a convenience store, restaurants, and a coffee shop.

There are plenty of online trolls, haters, and critics who try to dismiss new EV charger installations as being trivial because they might say that 40 is not enough. However, it is not possible to press a button to install 10,000 EV chargers at once. The process of expanding public EV charging infrastructure is not sudden and comprehensive. The installation of 40 new fast chargers does matter, as many may know.

In April 2025, there was a post made by the The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation about how federally funded public EV chargers in Pennsylvania had supported about 1.5 million miles of EV driving — with only 11 EV chargers. The reduction in CO2 emissions was about 700,000 pounds.

So, what will 40 fast chargers located near the largest airport in the Midwest provide? Perhaps far more EV driving miles and reduction in toxic air pollution.

These 40 new fast chargers are in addition to the 40 new Level 2 chargers that will be installed in Springfield, Illinois. Ten new public EV chargers were recently announced for Decatur, Illinois. That’s 90 new public EV chargers for the state of Illinois either installed or announced in just three months.

Some people who are not educated on the subject matter try to claim electric vehicles need to have 800 miles of range, but this claim is not true. Today, there are already many electric vehicles that have enough range and public EV charging infrastructure is gradually expanding. Additionally, for EV owners who have single family homes, about 80% of EV charging happens at home, which is more convenient than having to drive to a gas station to refuel. It isn’t common yet, but eventually more condo and apartment complexes will have onsite EV chargers.