Plug In America is thrilled to join in widespread celebration of 2011 as the Year of the Electric Car!
 
Please stay with us for what is certain to be an exciting ride ahead. Our January newsletter kicks it off.
 
Dan Davids
President

Looking Ahead to 2011

To say that things went well for the electric-vehicle movement in 2010 would be an understatement. Certainly, to have every major automaker on the planet now committed to electric-drive offerings is not something we at Plug In America would have predicted just two years ago. But as the year closed, both Nissan and GM made good on their goal to deliver brand new plug-in cars to retail customers. Order books for the Leaf and Volt are full as both manufacturers grapple with plans to increase production rates. And 2010's Tesla IPO can only be considered a miraculous achievement in an industry that hasn't seen a viable new American car company emerge in over three-quarters of a century.
 
Plug In America has been thrilled to be vitally engaged with carmakers, electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) manufacturers, utilities, government agencies and the media in promoting plug-in electric vehicles. We'll continue these efforts in 2011. Some of what we're working on:
 
•    Publishing an expanded second edition of Charged Up and Ready to Roll: The Definitive Guide to Plug-in Electric Vehicles (due out in February).
•    Honing our education and outreach to the public so that the advantages of electrified transportation are widely understood.
•    Busting the EV myths that continue to be spread in local and national media.
•    Working with electric utilities on EV-charging rate programs, and governments on gasoline tax replacement.
•    Convening a summit of EV charging station providers to ensure accessibility and ease-of-use of public charging locations.
•    Consulting with municipalities, automakers, and utilities to accelerate deployment of charging infrastructure.

Plug In America's goal is to assure consumer success with the rollout of new cars from automakers large and small. Challenges remain, but with the passion of our volunteers and staff, and the enthusiasm and donations from supporters, we are confident our work will continue to make a difference for the better.

EV Day in Paradise
 
Hawaii is an ideal location for plug-in vehicles and Plug In America was proud to participate in the first annual EV Day in Honolulu on Dec. 30th. The day began with an electric-drive caravan that started at the Missouri battleship memorial on Ford Island and wound its way around Windward and East Oahu to downtown Honolulu. Two Tesla Roadsters led the way, one driven by Henk Rogers, founder of Blue Planet Foundation, the other by Mina Brinkopf, owner of the new version 2.5.
 
A highlight of the tour was a visit with Colonel Robert Rice, commander of Marine Corps Base Hawaii. Known as the "Green Marine" for his leadership in implementing renewable technologies on the base, the colonel was presented with an award of appreciation by EV Day founder Frank Rogers (no relation to Henk) of Honolulu’s Green Energy Outlet (GEO), which sells green building and energy products. GEO is home to the first standards-compliant level 2 charging station available to the public in Hawaii. The colonel beamed with enthusiasm after experiencing the acceleration of the Tesla with a test drive off the base and onto the H3 freeway.
 
The afternoon featured a plug-in vehicle display at a park in Honolulu, along with food, drink and entertainment from local musician Makana. Local media conducted numerous interviews with EV drivers and supporters, including Plug In America's own Dan Davids, a part-time resident of the islands. The day concluded with a showing of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” at the Pipeline Cafe, a familiar location from the television hit “Hawaii 5-0.” Plans for next year's EV Day are already under way. Hawaii is among the first tier of states getting the Nissan Leaf, with first deliveries expected soon. General Motors, Coda, and Wheego each expect to have cars on the road in Hawaii in 2012, as well.
 
CalCars Gets its Cars, Plug-ins, That Is

“The reality hasn’t sunk in that they’ve actually built this car….”

A hefty handful of EV enthusiasts might have uttered those words with the recent delivery of the world’s first mass-marketed plug-ins. But the quote, first published on PlugInCars.com, comes from one of our industry’s most ardent, tireless advocates of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, Felix Kramer, upon receiving his very own Chevy Volt.

Kramer, along with Ron Gremban, founded the pro-PHEV CalCars initiative by completing the first public conversion of a Toyota Prius hybrid into a plug-in hybrid in 2004. Ever since, the powerful pair has been driving plug-in hybrid conversions, hence the near disbelief in possessing a factory-made, off-the-assembly-line Volt.

Kramer and Gremban celebrated the historic arrival of their new cars at Novato Chevrolet in Marin County just before Christmas. They rightly titled their event, "Success of the Plug-In Vehicle Campaign."

“It starts us on the path of taking this giant global industry and turning it around,” Kramer said upon the occasion. “It’s a big start.”

Plug In America extends its hearty congratulations to Kramer and Gremban. Keep on pluggin’!

In photo, from left: Ron Gremban, Felix Kramer and Andy Frank, "father" of the plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.