The seventh annual National Drive Electric Week, coming this September, has organizers claiming it is on track to host more events than any previous year, with 175 events already registered globally.
Naturally, the focus is on electric vehicles, and that includes test drives, parades, news conferences and announcements of new programs. While last year’s event saw 120,000 people attended, the event this year is timed to follow on the heels of some major EV releases. For one thing, the new Nissan LEAF is scheduled for release that same month. The Tesla Model 3 is also slated for release this summer, while GM’s Chevy Bolt EV hybrid minivan only recently debuted.
“With more cities committing to 100 percent clean energy, more EVs on the market than ever before, and with electric vehicle sales rising 37 percent this past year, it’s clear there are no detours on the road to clean energy,” Gina Coplon-Newfield, Sierra Club Electric Vehicle Initiative director, said. “The popularity of National Drive Electric Week events is proof that American consumers want 21st Century solutions to transportation and climate disruption.”
Other big news bolstering such clean fuel events are news that London’s entire public transport system will be zero emission by 2050, that France and Britain both hope to end sales of new gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles in the decades to come, and that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is making similar zero emission moves for its buses.
National Drive Electric Week is sponsored by Plug In America, the Sierra Club and the Electric Auto Association, and largely organized by volunteers. The industry has seen notable sales figures result from their efforts each year. As a direct result of the events hosted, Plug In America has noted that sales of plug-ins have jumped by as much as 23 percent in the month after.
“American consumers are finding that EVs are just better cars all around, and we’re seeing this attitude in the sales numbers,” Joel Levin, executive director of Plug In America, said. “When a car is less expensive, easier to maintain, cheaper to fuel and most importantly, better to drive, no matter what the brand, consumers will respond to the innovation we’ve seen in the electric vehicle market.”