Electric Vehicles – EVolution REVolution

On Saturday, September 26, 2020, the Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association (KEVA) kicked off its participation in National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) with a full day of webinars.  Over 60 people representing 17 states registered for the sessions through the NDEW website.  Others learned of the webinars through other means.

The full program for the day, and the links to the YouTube videos are:

Introduction to Electric Vehicles – A 60-minute webinar covering EV101, the owners’ perspectives of EVs, and a virtual test drive of the Audi eTron Sportback.

EV Batteries and Charging – A 30-minute webinar covering battery basics; Level I, II, and DCFC Chargers, Charging Ports, Charging at Home, and Charging on the Road.

Tesla Model 3 Virtual Test Drive – In this webinar, participants were taken for a ride in a 2018 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor car driven by a person who had never even ridden in an EV before.

EV Customs and Conversions – This 45-minute webinar features two KEVA members who have hands-on experience in customs and conversions. Mark Bishop converted a Honda Insight hybrid to full battery electric operation, and Gary Bulmer converted a Bernardi kit car to an electric vehicle. The session includes a video from East Tennessee’s John McMillian about his EV manufacturing startup.

EV Road Trips  – This 60-minute webinar starts with recognition of KEVA member Mark Bishop who received the 2019 EAA Trip Ambassador Award.  Susan and Jack Goodwin then focus on the planning, travel, and lessons learned on an 18-day EV trip from East Tennessee to Yellowstone National Park and back.

The Future of Electric Trucks  – In this 30-minute session, host Will Schleter covers the latest information available on electric trucks coming to market in the near future.

Electric Motorcycles/Motor Scooters, eBikes, and eScooters – There are already more electric ways to travel than just automobiles. This 30-minute session with Mark Bishop, Marty Young, and Stephen Mounger features information on electric motorcycles and motor scooters, electric bicycles (eBikes), and electric stand-up scooters (eScooters).

Your Guide to Adopting a Used EVs – Marty Young and Russell Kennedy treat participants to a 60-minute webinar covering used electric vehicles, why to buy one, what’s out there, which is right for you, where to look, and what about battery degradation.

Fun Facts and Testimonials – Between each webinar, there was a 15-minute intermission.  Intermissions included fun facts, testimonials, and a virtual test drive of a Volvo XC60 compliments of Volvo of Knoxville.  Key content has been collected into this video.

Thanks and Conclusions – This is a wrap-up of the day’s webinars with Susan Goodwin and Eric Cardwell.

Those of us in the Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association express our deepest gratitude to our friends at the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition and Drive Electric Tennessee for their assistance, and for providing us with space, technology, and access to Zoom to make these webinars possible.  We also want to thank the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and electrifythesouth.org for the use of several of their videos.We also appreciate the support of Electrify America, Plug In America, and the Electric Auto Association.