A beautiful sunny afternoon in Kalamazoo made for a very pleasant NDEW event, despite the Covid-19 restrictions and lack of test drives.  Our setup included a hand sanitizer station and disinfectant wipes in addition to the usual literature displays and giveaways, all participants wore face coverings, and there was more space between the displayed vehicles than usual.  Because of surprisingly good vehicle turn out, this spacing actually led to us overflowing the reserved section of the parking lot during the peak period, but not enough to negatively impact the regular business traffic.

              Several unusual crowd-pleasing vehicles were displayed this year.  In addition to Models S and 3, we had not one but two Tesla Model Ys on display, one of which is available on Turo!  The Sunseeker team from Western Michigan University's College of Engineering brought a totally solar powered EV from a previous competition season.  Rare around here, we were also treated to a new Cooper Mini SE, the all electric 2020 subcompact.  This seemed comparable in size to the grey Mitsubishi i-Miev which is a regular feature of our local events.  But in the race to smallness, both of these were bested by the Smart fortwo ED which was displayed by another owner associated with WMU, the dean of our College of Arts & Sciences.

              Another highlight was provided by Rich Mills, who again brought his 1981 Jet Electra to show.  We also had one conversion displayed by the local association member who made it, a Saturn Vue.

             Volunteers were busy giving out swag and answering questions, so it seemed that a good number of non-EV owners came around during the event, but we don't have a precise count.  We were delighted to meet a local owner of a Jaguar I-Pace, who didn't know anything about our event in advance, but stopped in to chat as he was going to the market to buy pumpkins.  We appreciated him letting folks have a look at his cool EV.

              We are grateful to our host, Midtown Fresh Market, and to Nissan and Consumers Energy, who each provided lots of free stuff for participants to take with them.

The only in-person NDEW event in Michigan!  A variety of electric vehicles will be on hand for show and tell, including Teslas, Chevy Bolts, Nissan Leaf, Mini Cooper SE, and at least one Zero motorcycle!  Owners will answer questions and share their real-world EV experiences with the general public.    We'll have our literature table with current information about other vehicles, home and public charging infrastructure, utility programs, etc.  If you are curious but don't know much about modern EVs, this is your best chance to see what they are really like, how they can benefit the planet and your pocketbook!

EV Drivers:  Please sign up to bring your vehicle for all or part of the afternoon.  Feel free to contact us for more info.  Plans could change, but as of now we are planning an in-person event as usual, but without test drives.  The new SW Michigan chapter of EAA is the official organizer of this event, but see also Kalamazoo Electric Vehicle Association on Facebook.

CoViD-19 precautions will be observed!  This entire event will be outdoors.  Do not attend if you have any symptoms associated with CoViD-19, which include but are not limited to: persistent cough, fever, shortness of breath, loss of sense of taste or smell.  Face coverings should be worn by all participants which cover the nose and mouth.  People from different households should maintain at least six feet of distance between them except for brief periods.  Hand sanitizer will be available at the main information table.  If you should begin to experience symptoms while at the event, you should separate yourself from others and leave as soon as possible.