Serving Larchmont Village, Hancock Park, and the Greater Wilshire neighborhoods of Los Angeles since 2011.

Test-Drive an EV This Saturday!

Photo from a 2017 Drive Electric Week event in Ann Arbor, MI (Photo Credit: Paul Pancella, Michigan Electric Auto Association
Ann Arbor Michigan Drive Electric Event 2017)

Did you know that 1 in 15 new cars registered in California this year is electric, and that market share has doubled since last year?

Full disclosure: I bought a used EV two years ago. How do I love my electric car?  Let me count the ways… a) Even my bug-eyed old 2013 Leaf is a rocket when I take it off eco mode.  b) No more smelly gas stations.  c) Nothing coming out of its tailpipe making LA’s smog or climate worse.  d) Cheaper to drive than a gas car.

And I do mean rocket.  You’ve got to feel it to believe it.  But fortunately for the curious, as part of the national Drive Electric Week, LADWP is hosting an event called “Charge Up LA!” at its headquarters, 111 N. Hope Street, from 10AM to 3PM on Saturday September 8th, where attendees actually get to ride and/or drive real EVs (and their bretheren, plug-in hybrids).

According to LADWP, you’ll be able to to test drive the all-electric BMW i3 and Nissan Leaf,  as well as the the Honda Clarity, Mini Cooper Countryman, BMW X5 xDrive40e, Chrysler Pacifica, and Prius Prime plug-in hybrids.  These are real cars you can walk up to a dealer and buy today, not just vaporware from the future.  (If you don’t believe me, click on the links above to see local dealer stock for each car.)  BMW will also have an i8 ‘supercar’ on display.

125 happy EV owners have also registered to attend, and some may bring their own cars to show off. So far, registrants of 25 Tesla Model 3’s, 17 Chevy Bolts, 17 Chevy Volts, 14 Nissan Leafs, 6 Tesla Model X’s, 5 BMW i3’s, 5 Fiat 500e’s… and 20-odd other models have indicated they will be attending.

Besides cars, there will be food trucks (Luckdish, Palazzolo’s Artisan Dairy, and Slanging Corea), EV owners happy to chat with you about how much they like their electric cars, and info about LADWP’s EV charger rebates and discounts.

The event is free, but please RSVP at ChargeUpLA.org, especially if you want to test drive a car.  (And don’t forget to bring your driver’s license!)

There’s a sister event at the same time in Watts, too, if you happen to be down that way.

2017 National Drive Electric Week event in Downtown LA (Photo credit: Plug In America)
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Daniel Kegel
Daniel Kegel
Dan Kegel is a software engineer and a member of the Greater Wilshire Neighborhood Council's Sustainability Committee. He also volunteers with Citizens' Climate Lobby Los Angeles and is an occasional contributor to the Buzz.

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