In the Driver’s Seat Blog

We’re rolling through the Pacific Northwest in Chad’s Model S just past 4 AM in the morning. We’re virtually gliding to Portland, headed to another briefing with colleagues on the outreach plans ahead – one that we’ve done dozens of times in key cities and states as we set a[…]

In the summer of 2012, news emerged of Nissan LEAF owners in Tucson, AZ, and other hot-climate areas experiencing unexpectedly large losses of battery capacity. This caused quite a stir in the LEAF owner community. The thread discussing this issue on the My Nissan LEAF (MNL) forum has over 5,000[…]

As of today, winter solstice 2012, I have been driving electric vehicles for ten straight years and generating the electricity for them from sunlight. When Zan and I bought that RAV4 EV we had no idea how it would change our lives, but change them it did. The RAV was[…]

Electric vehicles are awesome for local driving. Driving within the single-charge range of an electric vehicle is more fun, more convenient, and cheaper than driving a gas car. Many people are drawn to the idea that they can abandon gas stations, fuel at home, drive 130 miles for the cost[…]

Let Big Oil Buy Your EV! Since turning from EV activist to EV advocate to EV salesman, I’ve watched the development and ultimate sale of the Nissan LEAF, and from more of a distance, the Volt, as they burst into the market early last year. At first, we couldn’t come[…]

I’ve been driving electric vehicles since 2008, logging over 50,000 miles, and have never had an experience where my vehicle’s lack of engine noise created an unsafe situation. However, the issue of quiet vehicles and pedestrians is subtle and complex. I have had a pedestrian walk backwards through the traffic[…]

As the significance of a successful second National Plug In Day settled in (one ABC affiliate called it the start of a “new era” in their local reporting), several participants worked together on the following statement. Thanks to everybody who helped make National Plug In Day a tremendous success! TENS[…]

What a wonderful celebration we are seeing across the country for this second National Plug In Day. We would like to send a hearty thank you from Plug In America to the many thousands of people participating in National Plug In Day events in over 60 cities across the country.[…]

Are you tired of the poor reporting about plug-ins, too? We sure are. The Washington Post recently published a terribly poor editorial – our response follows below. To the editors: Over 50,000 Americans have a very different view than the Washington Post s recent, surprising portrayal of the GM Volt.[…]

We announced in our August newsletter the new Plug In Pioneers program we are launching to support our “Takes a Driver to Make a Driver” campaign. You can hear more about it in our featured podcast with Chad Schwitters and Kirk Brown. We’ll have an announcement of our charter participants[…]

Hello Plug In America supporters! After working non-stop for the past couple of days on some important issues in DC, Jay Friedland, Plug In America’s Policy Director, came up for air to update us on this recent Plug In America policy action. Thank you all who mobilized to help –[…]

  The Senate Finance Committee has removed three key EV tax credits – for electric motorcycles, electric vehicle infrastructure, and electric vehicle conversions from a “tax extenders” package to be voted on early Thursday morning. Plug In America has been working hard to gain extensions of these incentives and we[…]

Yesterday, Cathy and I gave a presentation on electric vehicles for high school students participating in Energy Week at Central Washington University. We started with explaining that electric vehicles should not be marketed like they are medicine, some bitter pill we should all be willing to swallow for the good[…]

The city of Sammamish, WA, recently purchased two Nissan LEAFs, and I helped make that happen by assisting the city director of community development in evaluating the total cost of ownership of the LEAF compared to gas cars the city was considering purchasing. I got involved in helping the city[…]

Free educational webinars on topics related to the emerging plug in market are a relatively new project for us at Plug In America. Some cover the basics; others are more technical. The registration and attendance information from our most recent webinar: Everything you Wanted to Know About Charging But Were[…]

The movie, “Revenge of the Electric Car” is now available on Netflix to watch instantly! If you haven’t had a chance to see this terrific movie on the emergence of the new electric vehicle industry, now you can see it tonight! The movie follows the individuals behind the new wave[…]

People often tell me that they like the idea of plug-in vehicles but they are just too expensive. Some of them haven’t driven a plug-in and assume the cars aren’t worth much, so they expect them to be very cheap. Others realize that plug-ins have many advantages and are willing[…]

You know the old fire (or combustion) triangle? The concept that for something to burn, it requires a spark, fuel and oxygen? I think for a successful charge station installation, you have a similar set of requirements. You need good hardware, a good management policy, and a good group of[…]

We are pleased to announce that we have retained Kirk Brown to serve as Plug In America’s Managing Director. This is an important moment for the EV movement and Plug In America. While progress is being made in bringing vehicles to market and securing infrastructure for them, we must substantially[…]

We’ve been working across the political spectrum for plug-ins at the local, state, federal, and even international level over the past year. It continues to be a volatile time for PHEV and BEV policy work, with new issues around charging infrastructure, incentives, access, and consumer protection happening weekly. As the[…]

Fabio is featured in Kelly Olson’s video with EV activist / actress Alexandra Paul. Watch Fabio as he displays his gigantic motorcycle collection and proudly shows off the latest addition to that collection: a brand new all-electric Zero Motorcycle. Hear why Fabio was “totally blown away” by his introduction to[…]

Plug-in electric vehicles are far better for the environment than gasoline vehicles, even on the current grid. They are not zero-impact–no car ever will be–but they are a major leap forward now, and will get even better as the grid improves (which is underway; coal use has gone from 52%[…]

Last December, I started collecting data for a study of the current state of EV Charging Infrastructure. Dozens of Plug In America supporters volunteered to survey local charging sites belonging to the Blink and ChargePoint networks and report on things like parking policy, station condition and station availability. Combining that[…]

It felt like a scene from Revenge of the Electric Car when I met Bob Lutz at the North American International Auto Show in January. I was in Detroit to preview the new electrified cars for Plug In America. After just seeing 3 screenings of Chris Paine’s documentary, I had[…]

Contrary to unrelenting media chatter, the demand for Chevy Volts is up. Clarification: It most certainly is up at Chevrolet of Irvine in Orange County, California. According to Chevy salesman Bob Skeffington, the snappy, extended range vehicles are moving off the lot almost as quickly as they can be trucked[…]

Chevy’s advertising for the Volt has confounded many. Whether they’re playing to people’s fears, or using apologetic marketing, as in the “More Car Than Electric” campaign, fans of plug-ins have never quite been sure if GM is just tone-deaf, or if they’ve re-hired the same marketing department that produced the[…]

Plug In America has worked extremely hard to gain more consumer incentives for plug-in vehicles and we are gratified to see this new presidential policy proposal which will increase the Federal tax credit to $10,000 and make it available at point of purchase. We will work with Congress to try[…]

Fear of plugging in Most people are afraid of plug-in vehicles. It’s not a knife-wielding-psycho kind of fear; it’s more of a broccoli-is-good-for-you kind of wary. They have heard that plug-ins are good for America’s economy, energy security and the environment; but they don’t want to endure the sacrifices that[…]

The EV Charging Infrastructure Survey Plug In America is conducting a study of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the US. As part of this study, we are conducting a survey of charging sites. The goal of this survey is to answer a simple question: If an EV driver goes to[…]

The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI has added the EV1 to their “Automobile in American Life” exhibit. The museum contacted Plug In America back in September, looking for high-resolution photos of EV1s from our website. The museum already had an EV1 on display, but wanted to create an informational[…]

It’s getting tiresome reading all these hit jobs on renewable energy and electric vehicles. First Solyndra, and now Ener1. In any emerging industry, there will be winners and losers, but the goal is still achieved in the end, a clean, domestic, renewable energy industry powering domestically produced electric vehicles. This[…]

As a young EV activist, I am often asked why I don’t drive a plug-in vehicle myself. While EVs are an extremely popular topic among people in my age group, few of us drive them. It may seem hypocritical of us, but there are several reasons why EVs haven’t penetrated[…]

CARB Board Chair Mary Nichols negotiated a special deal which would dramatically weaken the California ZEV program allowing automakers that overcomply with the new Federal GHG standards so they get away with producing less EVs. This sweetheart deal allows an automaker to cut the number of pure electric-drive vehicles by[…]

In September, we finally got our Nissan Leaf. We had signed up very early in the process, and could have had a Leaf in the spring of 2011, but we decided to put our order on hold until they offered the cold weather package. It was worth the wait! It’s[…]

Our nemesis, range anxiety Many gas drivers are reluctant to try a plug-in vehicle, and often they are not timid about letting us know it. The most common reason is that they are afraid the battery charge will run out unexpectedly and they will have to wait for a charge–perhaps[…]

“Gas Anxiety” is very common among plug-in vehicle owners. Although most of us still have access to gas propulsion, we would rather not use it. Not when cheaper, cleaner, quieter, smoother, responsive and torquey electric drive using domestic fuel is available! So we go through all sorts of gyrations to[…]