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There is our upcoming 57th D$W Meet coming up on Saturday Oct.19th at the Greenfield Public Library from 10-1...Stay Tuned for Details
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On behalf of
Drive $mart Wisconsin, New Hope UCC and the National Drive Electric Week, I
want to thank everyone who participated in our Electric Vehicle Fair last Saturday
in Jackson. Though a chance of rain was predicted, it held off all day, allowing
over 250 individuals to drive/ride and talk to EV/PHEV owners about the
benefits of EV ownership.
With 29
EV/PHEV vehicles and 16 models registered, we had 8 dealers and 21 owners on
site to offer over 80 ride and drives to attendees which is what really sells
the technology. We had over 75 people attend one of our 4 half hour EV Owners
Forum sessions where EV questions on ownership, charging, tax credits and
overall benefits were discussed. In addition, the Owners Forum gave the
attendees the opportunity to learn about the Drive $mart Wisconsin training
that can help drivers achieve 10-30% better mileage in their current vehicle.
I also want
to thank the 20 volunteers from both Drive $mart Wisconsin and the New Hope UCC
church that helped organize this event and managed it throughout the day. They
maintained the safety of all on site as well as offered hospitality through welcoming
and encouraging conversations.
I’m most
appreciative to all the EV/PHEV owners who took the time and effort to spend to
spend 5 hours of their weekend time teaching residents of Washington County
about EV’s by sharing their knowledge and expertise of ownership. I also want
to thank the dealers for joining us, even though a Saturday is the busiest day
at the dealership, and for offering rides in EV/PHEV’s that many drivers have
not experienced before. I apologize if I did not personally introduce myself to
you and thank you on Saturday for participating in this event. Personal
connections are what will help us move forward in spreading the news on EV’s.
With the
success of this NDEW Electric Vehicle Fair, D$W is looking at creating
additional local/regional events like this one, in addition to the annual DEED
and NDEW nationwide events. If you would be interested in participating in
another local/regional Electric Vehicle Fair in the future, please send me your
email address to brad@drivesmartwi.com
or 414-881-4226 so we can make future plans together.
Finally,
each of you have helped plant the seeds of change in Washington County and I expect
through your passion and expertise, those seeds will blossom with additional
EV/PHEV’s driving our roads in the future.
Bradlee, Marie and Justin Fons
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Drive $mart Wisconsin is once again organizing a NDEW event to be held in Jackson WI. EV owners and enthusiasts from SE
Wisconsin, along with local dealers, will display their electric vehicles and
will hold an EV Owners Forum to highlight the
clean-air benefits and cost-savings of electric cars on Saturday Sept.
21 at the New Hope UCC in Jackson WI from 10am to 3pm. The event is part of the
sixth annual National Drive Electric Week and this Drive $mart Wisconsin event
is one of more than 280 NDEW events across the country and will be the largest,
most diverse, gathering of electric vehicles in SE Wisconsin this year.
New Hope UCC, 4360 Jackson Drive Jackson WI. 53037
D$W Members/EV Owners of Drive $mart Wisconsin and members of the HOPE Creation Team from New Hope UCC. Drive $mart Wisconsin is organizing this Jackson NDEW event. Local dealers that will be present, based on availability, will be: Heiser Chevrolet West Bend, Russ Darrow Mitsubishi, Fields Jaguar-Volvo, Heiser Chevrolet West Allis, Rosen Nissan, BMW Milwaukee North, Russ Darrow Kia and David Hobbs Honda. RENEW Wisconsin and Great Waters Group of the Sierra Club will have an informational table at this event and this event is supported by Jimmy’s Restaurant of Jackson.
On the hour from
11am to 2pm, there will be a short 15-30 minute D$W EV Owners Forum where EV
owners will talk about their experiences and answer any and all questions on EV/PHEV
ownership such as:
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the basics of electric vehicles including technology,
safety, performance and benefits
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review the financial and environmental advantages
including tax incentives
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discuss Drive $mart tips to optimize performance and
extending driving range
_______________________________________________________52 on the 54th! As we celebrated Earth Day on Saturday with the Drive Electric Earth Day event, we had 52 attendees for the 54th Meet of Drive $mart Wisconsin. We had 9 Tesla's, 4 Volt's, 2 Leaf's, 2 Bolts, 1 BMW i3 and a Fiat 500e for the DEED event and numerous other PHEV's and hybrids from our D$W crew.
We split the Meet into talking about the 50 Tools for a Lifetime techniques as part of $mart Driving training and then followed with an open discussion of EV's. We were fortunate to have Tesla Software engineer Garlan Garner (in his beautiful white Tesla Model 3) and Tom Content, Executive Director of CUB (Citizens Utility Board) talking about Tesla technology and the WI. PSC interest in expanding/improving EV charging across the state respectively.
All D$W members in attendance shared their experiences using the Tools for a Lifetime segment and many EV owners loved to hear about extending their range with these $mart Tools. During a working lunch, everyone contributed to the EV discussion segment, sharing knowledge and expertise.
Wonderful D$W/DEED Meet, informed education, sweet rides but it's always about the people...great people. Thanks to Marie, Justin, Teng, Ben and Garlan for taking ownership in this D$W/DEED Meet.
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What just happened at the D$W hosted NDEW event on Saturday... a lot!
First off, I want to thank all our volunteers with special thanks to Marie/Justin for their support and encouragement and to Ben Nelson for his leading the EV Owners Forum in the library. We all need to also thank Greenfield Mayor Neitzke, and several City Council members, Fire Chief Cohn along with Sheila O'brian and Michelle Scaffe from the Greenfield Library for their help in getting this educational event legalized. (long story).
Here are some of the metrics that don't do justice to the spirit and flavor of the days excitement:
- 22 cars on site, 10 different makes
- 13 vehicles available for ride/drive with 58 people going out for the EV experience
- 63 people participating in the 2 hour EV Owners Forum
- 83 info packets on electric vehicles handed out
- 32 sign ups for D$W membership
Though numbers are hard to figure since both events were happening at once, my best guess for total numbers based on observation and conversations with owners/volunteers is close to 150 individuals that came to our first NDEW event.
It was a long 5 hour day but if the purpose was to support, train, educate and promote (remember our D$W STEP Program) the public on EV's, then we should all agree it was a great success.
Thanks to Marie, Justin, Ben, Joe, Dorothy, Gary, Teng, Jerry and Dennis for pulling off the largest EV event ever held in SE Wisconsin.
https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=1370
Recap of our July Meet: Hot day but cool Meet with 28 members attending including 4 new members. We rolled in with a Tesla, iMiev, 3 Prime, 1 FEH, 1 Lexus 400h, a Volt, Camry Hybrid and 6 Prius and several conventional vehicles. We came from all over SE Wisconsin and Illinois including Bloomington, Burlington, Oconomowoc, Kansasville and Franksville.
We had a great open session on what "Tools For a Lifetime" we have in our Drive $mart tool belt. As you can see we came up with at least 27 tools that could be used in Smarter driving. We had an expanded Round Robin when we shared our current rides and mileage numbers.
One last update, D$W just finished 2017 with a unique partnership with the Milwaukee Public Schools and Arcade Driving in presenting our "Tools For a Lifetime" training to over 200 local students and driver instructors. This is the very first time that fuel efficient training has been taught as a part of a public school drivers education program and we were asked by MPS/Arcade to set the curriculum and teach the training. The MPS Drive program has continued into 2018 with summer school training and we hope that our D$W training will also expand in 2019.
Please feel free to invite family members, work associates, friends, neighbors and even strangers to this newest D$W Meet so they can learn the tools for the future and recognize that Fuel Efficiency is the Fuel of the 21st Century.
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Our planet Earth is our home, and D$W has over 52 Meets and over 12 years we have tried to “Protect Our Home” by teaching thousands of drivers to Drive $marter. As our country moves forward in a new direction, 2018 and years to come may put all of our D$W members and friends to their stiffest test in these initial 12 years of “Protecting Our Home”.
D$W has never been a political group, but rather a grassroots group of activists that passionately believe that one of the best ways to “Protect Our Home” is with our STEP Program of supporting, training, educating and promoting green transportation and teaching Driving $marter techniques. The rewards for this effort are when the drivers see the money they’re saving and the corresponding mitigation of the effects of climate change.
We all have met the skeptics that believe that D$W techniques won’t work, but once behind the wheel and after hearing the stories and connecting with other D$W members they become believers. All this takes is patience, persistence, practice and the continuing encouragement of each member. So let 2018 be the year of re-committing your passion to D$W and help provide the evidence that green transportation and Driving $marter is not only important but also critical to our efforts in “Protecting Our Home”.