Celebrate National Drive Electric Week – September 12-20

Guest Blog | September 10, 2015 | Clean Transportation, Electric Vehicles, Energy Policy
National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) kicks off its fifth year this Saturday with hundreds of events scheduled throughout the week to celebrate electric cars (EVs).

NDEW, nationally presented by Plug-In America, Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association, is an opportunity to highlight the clean-air benefits, cost-savings, and pure driving joy of electric cars. EV owners will gather, show off their cars and share their EV experiences. If you are EV curious, it’s a GREAT time for you to talk one-on-one with owners and manufacturers and the get the truth about EVs.

In Georgia, hundreds of Atlanta area electric vehicle (EV) drivers and enthusiasts will participate in a social and ride-and-drive event this Saturday, September 12, 2015 at Atlantic Station. Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is pleased to be a co-captain of this year’s event.  Other captains, sponsors and/or partners include EV Club of the South, Georgia Power, Nissan, Clean Cities Georgia and others. The social will begin at 9:00 am (at the Atlanta Station tennis courts) followed by a display of electric vehicle (EV) owners around Atlantic Station’s Central Park and test drives will be offered by EV manufacturers at 11:00am. EV chargers and other products will be on display plus fun giveaways and two Level 2 charging stations will be given away.

Georgia has been a leader on EVs. Due to a generous tax credit for many years, GA is ranked #2 in the country for EV sales. While the state tax credit is no longer available, the benefits of EVs remain. They are affordable, quiet and really fun to drive. Not only that, but they are offering drivers a cleaner choice, helping drivers save money, reducing oil use, and cutting heat-trapping emissions. In the U.S, we send more than $1 billion overseas a year for fuel and we burn roughly 121 billion gallons of oil in our passenger cars and trucks EACH YEAR. Switching to an EV is one of the biggest ways that you can cut this consumption, reduce pollution and keep money in our local economics.

As a Nissan LEAF® driver myself, I can personally attest to the joy of skipping trips to the gas station, much lower cost of ownership, and no tailpipe emissions, but nothing beats getting behind the wheel of the vehicle yourself. If you’re curious, find an event near you. Events may include EV parades, test drives, electric tailgate parties, award ceremonies, informational booths and more.

Can’t attend an event? There are are many resources online that can help guide you — including information on available cars, incentives and costs. Please spread the word by sharing this blog and tweeting about National Drive Electric Week using #NDEW2015.

For more on the Atlanta event, check out this video or the website.

See you at National Drive Electric Week!

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