A video message from Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and videos of an electric vehicle road rally and Dallas-Fort Worth electric bus service will highlight a National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) event focusing on North Texas. This virtual event is part of a national celebration of electric vehicles and is “based” in Dallas-Fort Worth. Trinity Metro will provide a webinar video of its Dallas-Fort Worth Dash electric bus. It will also include a first-ever reunion of the cast and director of “Who Killed the Electric Car?” for a look back by EV pioneers at the birth of EV advocacy and a look ahead at where the field must go now.
The videos and the live pioneers panel are part of a NDEW webinar premiering Sat., Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. It is one of dozens of in-person and pandemic-safe virtual NDEW events, coast-to-coast, designed to accelerate EV adoption.
Other webinar highlights:
–EV driver-made testimonial video
–A live EV 101 panel
–A video about the newest Chevy Bolt EVs made exclusively for the event
–An artistic re-imagining of the Tesla Cybertruck made out of recycled plastic
–A video by race car driver/EV advocate Leilani Munter
Texas is working to accelerate EV adoption with Tesla completing its new Gigafactory in Austin, and, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Chinese automaker Kandi opening a manufacturing facility and Linear Labs opening a research and production center. North Texas is boosting its EV deployment, with light-duty registration growing at a rate of over 35% per year and multiple heavy-duty EV deployment projects in place, according to the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG).
“National Drive Electric Week is an opportunity to educate Texans about the benefits of electric vehicles, including the important role they play in improving our region’s air quality,” said Lori Clark, program manager at NCTCOG. “We’re delighted to take part to help build support in North Texas for these clean, efficient, enjoyable vehicles.”
Texas event sponsor CarbonLITE Recycling, the world’s largest recycler of plastic beverage containers, recently expanded capacity at its 220,000 square-foot Dallas plant. It donated 800 plastic water bottles and recycled sheet plastic from its PinnPACK Packaging subsidiary for an imaginative interpretation of the Tesla Cybertruck by California-based artist Anne Marie D’Agostino.
Speakers on the pioneers panel will include Chris Paine, the 2006 “Who Killed” documentary’s director, Chelsea Sexton, its key figure. Panelist Shelley Francis, managing partner of EVNoire, will be among those contributing information about equity and diversity among EV consumers. The lively discussion will be moderated by Dan Neil, also in the film and the Wall Street Journal’s Pulitzer Prize-winning auto columnist.
The webinar will be emceed by EV pioneers Alexandra Paul, also known for her work as an original “Baywatch” actress, and Marvin Campbell. More information is available and viewers may register for the webinar here. It will be recorded and remain online indefinitely.
To kick-off NDEW, there was an EV road rally across several cities in North Texas. The course through Dallas had 9 stops that corresponded with the 8 goals in the CECAP plan. Watch the travels of one rally driver as he visits the Dallas City Hall, the Ronald Kirk Bridge, an urban farm that assists returning veterans and more places.
