Salt Lake City National Drive Electric Day 2014 September 13, 2014 Mark D Larsen

EV’entful Gathering (Click to enlarge)

Previously touted as “Plug-In Day” in 2012 and 2013, this year’s electric vehicle celebration was expanded as National Drive Electric Week, September 15-21. More cities than ever volunteered to host EV exhibitions, parades, road rallies, ride-and-drives, and news events, especially during the designated weekend to better accommodate work schedules. Unfortunately, in my state there was a conflict with the Utah Clean Air Fair on the 20th, so the National Drive Event for Salt Lake City was moved up one week to the 13th.

The organizer, Josh Edson, is the most prolific and enthusiastic Nissan Leaf salesman in Utah. He put together last year’s Plug-In Day, and his dealership, Tim Dahle Nissan, agreed to again let him use its facilities to host this year’s event, as shown in the above photo. Josh often browses my EV web pages, and knowing that mine was the first Leaf that Nissan officially delivered in Utah, he asked me to speak at the celebration. I consented to pontificate my 2 pesos worth at the lectern, even though it would necessitate driving my gaseous Subaru to SLC (ugh!) —since we have yet to see any QuickChargers along I-15.

I really enjoyed the event, and was glad that I had committed to show-n-tell my foot-shaped mouth so that I could meet all the volunteers and visitors. There were drawings for numerous prizes; free food, drinks, souvenirs; music; speeches from sundry organizations; test drives; and a wide variety of electric vehicles on display. The attendees not only included EV aficionados, but scores of curious visitors who wanted to compare the features, benefits, and pricing of the plug-ins available. It was a truly fun and memorable day!

For those interested, I have put together a slide show of photos that I took at the event. Enjoy!

Slide Show of the Celebration
Click any thumbnail to open the photo in the slide show window