In the Driver’s Seat Blog

Dealers and their sales staff are central to growing sales in the fledgling market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Nearly all new PEVs (excluding Tesla) are sold through independently owned dealerships. Yet an increasing number of reports show that many dealers struggle with selling PEVs, citing low consumer awareness, limited[…]

Colorado State Press Release MULTIPLE LOCATIONS — Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 — The Governors of Colorado, Utah and Nevada today jointly announced that they will work together over the next year to develop complementary plans for building an electric vehicle charging network across key highway corridors in their states. The[…]

Watch our Executive Director, Joel Levin, discuss Plug In America’s role in a changing political landscape: Want more? Check out our entire video library here.

Watch our Program Director Eric Cahill discuss our upcoming dealer engagement program: Want more? Check out our entire video library here.

Watch Patrick Harbison, our Communications Consultant, talk about how social media is connecting EV Drivers: Want to see more? Check out our entire video library here.

Check out our newest video with our Policy Director, Katherine Stainken! Want to see more? Find all our other videos here.

This week, Plug In America’s John U’Ren had the opportunity to interview Harlan Flagg at Hollywood Electrics about the present and future of electric motorcycles. Hollywood Electrics first opened back in 2009, and quickly established itself as the largest dealer of electric motorcycles in the world. Increasingly, electric cars are entering[…]

Actor Ty Burrell likes to live dangerously, but not when it comes to climate change. Watch him in the next episode of Years of Living Dangerously, airing Wednesday December 7th, where he takes to the road to see the environmental revolutions being made in electric vehicles (#EVs) and autonomous vehicles (AVs). Don’t miss[…]

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration has announced a new requirement for electric and hybrid cars: an audible alert.  Beginning in September 2019, all new production hybrid and electric cars will have to comply with a minimum noise level in an effort to both prevent collisions with pedestrians and bicyclists[…]

Watch these special messages from Plug In America, then please consider making a donation to support our work in 2017 and beyond. Katherine Stainken, Policy Director Patrick Harbison, Communications Advisor Katherine Stainken, Policy Director

Dear Friends, We stand at a moment of great uncertainty for the electric car. With the outcome of the election, we need your help and your commitment now more than ever. Plug In America has stood firm in its commitment to electric vehicles through a range of political climates; in[…]

Plug In America today announced it has met the Workplace Charging Challenge by installing a charging station for its employees and issued a call for other employers to follow suit. The US Department of Energy’s EV Everywhere program is building momentum among employers to install electric vehicle charging as an[…]

Next up on our new series, Ask the EV Expert, we answer a question from Eileen in Connecticut. Have a question of your own? Post it on Facebook, Tweet at us or email us at info@pluginamerica.org #AskTheEVExpert I’m leaving town for a few weeks, and I have three questions! Question: Should[…]

Finally we are starting to see automakers, albeit just one to start with – Hyundai, try a more deliberate approach to retailing vehicles equipped with alternative powertrains like EVs. Hyundai’s forthcoming Ioniq, offered first as an EV and later as a plug-in hybrid EV, will feature what the automaker is[…]

While some electric utilities in California have been prepping for years to support and expand the electric vehicle market, many are just getting started. As the nation’s leading independent consumer voice for accelerating the use of these clean vehicles, Plug In America supports the involvement of utilities in the  Plug-in[…]

Fighting for change has never been easy. Plug In America has stood firm in its commitment to electric vehicles through a range of political climates; in fair weather and foul. Over many years, we have pushed both Democratic and Republican administrations to be bold in their support of EVs. And[…]

Next up on our new series, Ask the EV Expert, we field a question from Frank in Massachusetts. Have a question of your own? Post it on Facebook, Tweet at us or email us at info@pluginamerica.org #AskTheEVExpert Many people have talked about the environmental impact of electric car batteries once they[…]

  In 1898, the world’s first urban planning conference was held in New York City. It was largely devoted to the major urban environmental health problem of the day – horse manure. In the 1890’s, with horses as the primary means of transportation (as they had been since the time[…]

We’ve read a few pieces in recent weeks which seem to relish pitting autonomous vehicle technology against electric vehicles. One pundit even speculates that we should say “goodbye to EVs.” We see a false equivalency argument between the problems that the two technologies solve. Electrified drive trains offer cleaner air,[…]

First up on our new series, Ask the EV Expert, we field a question from Dave in Arkansas. Have a question of your own? Post it on Facebook, Tweet at us or email us at info@pluginamerica.org #AskTheEVExpert I think I read somewhere we should ride our electric car’s brakes downhill to[…]

Are plug-in hybrids merely a stepping stone to an all-battery electric national fleet?  Or are they destined to be a long-term fixture of the American automotive industry?  Two new articles take opposing views on the matter.  Neil Winton of Forbes observes that most major auto manufacturers believe that plug-in hybrids[…]

Jeff Finn, Treasurer At the Issaquah, WA NDEW event, I spoke with a couple about their EV experience. The husband informed me that they had recently located a reasonably priced used LEAF which was perfect to use for his 24-mile round trip commute to work each day. Unfortunately, his wife[…]

The California Air Resources Board’s Technology Symposium held at the South Coast Air Quality Management District offices this past week offered a glimpse into the future of battery electric vehicles from the industry side. Despite the fact that EV technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the past decade,[…]

The Chevrolet Bolt officially has an EPA-estimated all-electric range of 238 miles.  Wow. That’s far enough to drive from from Dallas to Houston on a single charge. Or from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and back without charging. But the range itself is not what makes the Chevy Bolt a[…]

A few years ago, it would have been a pipe dream to imagine that there would be 500,000 plug-in cars on the streets of the United States—and more than a million worldwide. But we are now poised to cross this big threshold in the coming week. (If you are a[…]

Left: Guest Blogger Andy Silber with his wife, Catherine, and her dog, Montse, at Mount Si outside Seattle, WA One of the things that we hear as owners of electric vehicles (EVs) is that we’re just causing more coal and gas to be burned. Is this a fair complaint today[…]

I have just returned from the EV Roadmap Conference in Portland, now in its 9th year. There was one word that I heard there, over and over, from a variety of speakers and I have been thinking about it quite a bit since then. The word is better. The real[…]

The organizers behind the sixth annual National Drive Electric Week – Plug in America, the Sierra Club and the Electric Auto Association – announced new details for the annual event designed to accelerate the national adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (EV). Through test drives, parades, news conferences and announcements of[…]

The electric vehicle world will be taking some big steps forward this autumn. Four new vehicles are expected out from manufacturers near the end of the year that each push the envelope in some interesting ways and fill market niches that are still barren. So if your lease is expiring[…]

On June 27, webinar attendees joined Plug in America and the State of Massachusetts in promoting the Commonwealth’s efforts to accelerate adoption of electric vehicles by focusing on the benefits to employers and their workers in providing charging spaces and how to create a viable program. Webinar Agenda: Massachusetts Drive[…]

May 25, 2016 Webinar emPower the People (em = electric mobility) EmPower the People Webinar Recording and Toolkit On May 25, 2016, Plug In America hosted an informative webinar, “emPower the People EV Charging for Apartment Condo Residents.” Below, you can view a recording of the webinar presentation by Plug In America’s Joel[…]

This year at the annual California State Science Fair one of our directors, Jay Friendland, judged 940 projects and awarded a total of four students with the Plug In America EV Excellence Award. These students won because of their projects’ innovation and relevance to Electric Vehicle (EV) technology. The first[…]

Last month, David Biello wrote an article in Scientific American entitled “Electric Cars Are Not Necessarily Clean.” Biello found that electric vehicles (EVs) “are only as good as the electricity that charges them” and concluded that their environmental benefit is modest at best. Unfortunately, he entirely missed the true beauty[…]

1. Merging onto the highway can be the best part of the trip. The ability of an electric motor to give maximum torque from low speeds completely changes the experience of zipping onto a fast-moving highway. This is one EV secret that no one talks about. 2. Everyone is curious[…]

This past week was unprecedented in the history of the automobile. Tesla Motors began accepting orders on the Model 3. In three days, they took some 300,000 reservations for the car, each with a $1,000 deposit. If they all come through, that equates to over $10 billion in sales–in three[…]

Join us at: Plug Into Electric Drive Programming at ACT Expo 2016 Join Plug In America at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo from May 2-5 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Participate in exciting electric drive sessions, including: Choosing Electric: Purchasing the Right Fleet Vehicle A Road Map for Light-Duty[…]

This week, I took my next-door neighbor and my exterminator for a ride in my new Nissan LEAF. Neither had ever been in an electric vehicle before and both were plenty impressed with the comfort, quiet and power of the ride. My neighbor only drives Volvos, but was very interested[…]

If your phone company offered you a shiny new rotary-dial telephone, hard-wired to the wall, but with a lower monthly bill, would you trade in your iPhone or Android? Probably not. People did not move to smart phones because they were cheaper. Consumers migrate to a new technology because it[…]