Cities across US to draw attention to plug-in electric vehicles
On Sunday, the 16th of October, cities all over the United States will be celebrating the adoption of the electric vehicle (EV). Each of the four corners of the US will be involved as cities from Southern California to New Hampshire and Washington to Florida will gather the faithful (and the future faithful) to talk about, explore and just have fun with a broad discussion of the general benefits of driving gasoline free.
Information can be found at Plug In America, one of the sponsors of the event along with the Sierra Club and the Electric Auto Association. Each city and venue will offer their own flavor to their local event. Activities may include Tail pipe free tailgate parties, EV parades, test drives and other activities that will assist in promoting EV adoption. For instance, the San Diego Plug In America day will feature a tailgate party (with picnic lunch provided) along with presentations about the California Clean Vehicle Rebate Program (CVRP) and an update on the EV Project installation status in the San Diego region. All of this will be at the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) facility in Kearny Mesa. For more on local events in your area, please click on the Plug In America link at the top of this paragraph.
The local San Diego event will be held from noon to 2:00PM, followed by an EV parade down Balboa Avenue. Even if you can’t make the entire event, try to make it down for the EV parade. Let’s let San Diego know how many of us there are already. The event is likely to make the news, and a parade of a significant number of Nissan LEAFs, homebuilt EVs, and other electric vehicles may prove to be eye opening for those that have failed to notice our arrival thus far. If you aren’t in the San Diego area, check the Plug In America site to see if there is an event going on near you. Make your presence known. Let your community know that the EV is a viable alternative for many Americans. Personally, we have already influenced the acquisition of a LEAF by a neighbor. They drove ours and we talked about the advantages and disadvantages, and not long after we noticed that a new LEAF had turned up in their garage.
As educators in our day job, we feel an obligation to provide information that can be relied upon to assist others to be able to make better decisions. We feel that this is a great opportunity to extend that reach to a community of advocates who can really make a difference in the way that the EV is seen by the curious. Rouse your fellow EV owners to the cause. We’ll see you on the 16th.