Successful EV Club Ride and Drive Event

125 Test Drives Given

Thank you to all who helped, sponsored, or simply showed up. We had a good time learning about the latest in EVs and test-driving vehicles from Hyundai, Kia, VinFast, Lucid, Tesla, and a conversion from Inductive Autoworks.

Final List of Vehicle Models Available for Drives

Hyundai Ioniq 9
Hyundai Ioniq 5
Kia EV9
VinFast VF 8
VinFast VF 9
Lucid Air
Tesla Model 3
Tesla Cybertruck
ICE to EV converted Mazda RX8

It was a bit of a challenge to source vehicles this year – when we selected the date 8 months ago, who knew it was going to be 2 days before the sunset of the federal incentive. EV sales are enjoying a spike due to pull-forward demand. We heard from some sellers that everything on the floor that was electric was sold out, including the coffee pot. But we ended up with a strong lineup and the cars were busy all day.

We had another warm, sunny day, summer weather in late September, and were glad to have the shade of the solar canopies.

Besides the test drives, there were other things happening

Clean Transportation Communities of Southern CT had information on the state’s first consumer-focused vehicle to grid pilot project. This is our summary of it.
In addition to test drives and an EV showcase, a tour was given of the hotel to see the tech that puts the zero in net-zero.
The Hotel Marcel and the Hyundai Corporation announced their Sustainability Partnership that combines sustainable hospitality with sustainable transportation. The Hotel Marcel is the first hotel in the program.
United Illuminating provided an informational handout on the state EV charging incentives.
Flux Marine brought an electric boat.
We had a handout of a compilation of all BEVs currently for sale. This was created by the Greater Washington DC chapter of the Electric Vehicle Association and used with their permission. A blog post of the handout is here.
We thank Out of Spec Dave for making a video to promote our event.