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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$W/DEED Meet.
What just happened at the D$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”.