National Drive Electric Week
Montpelier, VT
Sep 14, 2019
Montpelier, VT
Sep 14, 2019
| Day: | Saturday, September 14, 2019 NOTE: this event has already happened, find current-year events on the Attend page. |
| Time: | 11am-2pm |
| Location: | State House Lawn/ State Street and Gov. Aiken 115 State St Montpelier, VT 05603 |
Event Report
Montpelier Drive Electric Day featured over 25 personal electric vehicles, electric bikes by Zoom Bikes and Onion River Outdoors, an electric commercial lawn mower by Eco-Equipment Supply, a PEBL(Better Bike), and an all-terrain mobility assistance vehicle. Over 150 people attended the day. I have heard from many that their opinions did change and that they are now considering getting an EV earlier than later.
Important for this work is that we had representatives from the Dept of Buildings and General Services, the Vermont State Employees Credit Union, Green Mountain Power, and Drive Electric Vermont, Sun Common, VPIRG, VNRC, and Sun Catcher Vermont all talking about the premise of vehicle electrification. The “background” music, the delicious food by Mediterranean Mix and Ben and Jerry’s served out of Ben and Jerry’s Tesla all helped create a festive atmosphere. Special thanks to thanks to Montpelier Alive for loaning us signboards and tents, and Hunger Mountain Coop for the volunteer snack donation.
Importantly, we captured on video testimonials from some of the car owners in our “EV Storytelling” Segment. Bob the Green Guy is packaging these videos into short media clips to use for future events and promotions.
Although it was a successful event day, I believe that most importantly we gained so much more in achieving electric vehicle awareness by that we earned numerous media coverage that amplified our message. Before the event, Mayor Watson and I were on the Dave Gram Show on WDEV and some of us were on multiple WGDR shows which helped amplify the conversation.
Post Event Coverage:
TV News: https://www.mynbc5.com/
Print News:
Photos- https://drive.google.com/open?
Furthermore, within the political sphere, we had cross-party lines of support. The Montpelier City Council declared September 14, Montpelier Drive Electric Day. We also had active support in planning by the Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee, the Montpelier Transportation Infrastructure Committee and Mayor Ann Watson. The Mayor also read the proclamation at the event.
Although originally slated to attend, Lt Governor Zuckerman recorded a pre-event promotional video as a consolation to his cancellation. The video was viewed over 5,000 times on Facebook and shared over 30 times. Governor Phil Scott was invited to attend, however, was not available. Instead, he responded to our request for a proclamation declaring Sep 14-Sep 22 as Drive Electric Week.
Montpelier Proclamation.
https://drive.google.com/open?
Lt Governor Promotional Video( Thanks to Bob Farnham for recording and for Meg Polyte in coordinating it for us>)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Governor Phil Scott Proclamation.
https://governor.vermont.gov/
photo by: Kathleen Gorman Montpelier Drive Electric Day September 14, 2019 Vermont State House |
Event Description
Overview
The Vermont Chapter of the Sierra Club is collaborating with Sustainable Montpelier, Mayor Ann Watson, Drive Electric Vermont, Zoom Bikes, Montpelier Energy Advisory Committee, Montpelier Transportation Infrastructure Committee, the Nature Conservancy of Vermont and others to host a 2019 Drive Electric Week event in the Capital City of Montpelier.
We are pleased to announce that we will have food for sale by Mediterranean Mix.
Schedule
11:00 am - Welcome Remarks from Sierra Club and Mayor of Montpelier Ann Watson
11:15 am - Test drives, conversations, music and more.
12:30 pm- Electric Vehicle Speed Story Telling- We will ask 5-10 participants to tell their Electric Vehicle story in a one-two minute remarks.
12:45 pm - Remarks from Key stakeholders-
1:00 pm - Test rides, conversations, music and more.
1:45 pm - Closing remarks and raffle.
Join Us!
If you are interested in volunteering or bringing your electric vehicle to the event, please click one of the buttons above to register now.
Please note: We are inviting car dealers, e-bike dealers, utilities, lending institutions, and other community partners.
Thank you to our Sponsors
VSECU, SunCommon, Vermont Natural Resources Council, Onion River Outdoors, Eco-Equipment Supply, Vermont Public Interest Research Group, and Vermont Conservation Voters.
Registered Attendees
There are currently 116 attendees registered.
Owners of These Vehicles Have Registered To Attend
| Vehicle | Registered |
|---|---|
| Chevrolet Bolt | 12 |
| Nissan Leaf (2018+) | 4 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 4 |
| Volkswagen e-Golf | 4 |
| Nissan Leaf (2011-2017) | 3 |
| Other Plug-In Vehicle | 3 |
| Chevrolet Volt | 2 |
| Ford C-MAX Energi | 1 |
| Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid | 1 |
| Hyundai Ioniq Plug-in Hybrid | 1 |
| Hyundai KONA Electric | 1 |
| Kia Niro Electric | 1 |
| Tesla Model S | 1 |
| Toyota Plug-in Prius | 1 |
| Toyota Prius Prime | 1 |
| 15 Models | 40 |
Registered attendees report 616,218 electric miles driven.
