This year’s Plug-In Day celebration may not have had hunky models riding motorcycles, but there were a lot more EV owners present. 216 signed up, mostly LEAF owners. We took over a parking lot near the Catalina Express, with a lovely view of one of the cleanest and busiest shipping ports in the world. There were lots of great vendors present, including Clipper Creek, which generously donated a charger to the raffle. Also available for test drives was the Tesla Roadster of Plug-In America co-founder Linda Nicholes. It’s up to $54,100 on eBay and bidding ends in less than 48 hours! Linda donated her old Tesla to Plug-In America.
Although I rode as aerodynamically as possible, and did my best to keep the speed down, I used 70% of my batteries on the 25 mile freeway ride from downtown Los Angeles. Luckily Hollywood Electrics and Sustainable Solutions Partners brought a handy solar generator. Towed by an Electric Rav4, of course. My Zero FX was back up to 100% in no time, thanks in part to the Delta quick charger I brought along.
Santa Monica High School’s Team Marine was also present, with the VW Beetle they’ve electrified. They’re very lucky to have Reverend Gadget as their advisor. He’s the guy Elon Musk calls when he wants an art car for Burning Man. You may have seen him in Revenge of the Electric Car.
Nissan, Fiat, and Ford had the biggest corporate presence, with long lines of people wanting to test drive their cars. Brammo and Zero both had motorcycles available for test rides as well, while Pedago was the only electric bicycle company present. Our lunch delivery guy was really excited about them, and planned to take one for a spin on his break. 2013 was the first year Plug-In Day went global, and Amsterdam officially handed it off to Los Angeles via Skype video. Here are some videos from the day:
Paul Scott, co-founder of Plug-In America, talking about the automated Nissan LEAF he rode in:
Team Marine gives their thoughts on automated cars, and which EV they want most:
State Assemblymember Bonnie Lowenthal talks about what’s happening in Sacramento to make it easier to own an EV:
More pictures from the event…
The sexiest Nissan LEAF we’ve ever seen
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