Most of us can agree that protecting the health of our children is a top-priority. Our newsletter this month covers the many places throughout the Southeast who are pursing deeper investments in this cleaner, safer, and healthier mode of transport. We also have a status update on the proposed North Carolina electric vehicle license plate and have a new opportunity for Tennessee residents to apply for a speciality EV license plate, too!
As promised, we're incredibly excited to announce three upcoming in-person ride and drive events this August in Orlando, Atlanta, and Raleigh! We invite you to join us as a passenger or driver. COVID-19 safety protocols will be enforced, including mandatory masks.
As we continue to track the progress of electric transportation growth in the Southeast and beyond, we remain grateful for our readers who stay connected to us and others on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. To receive these newsletters in your inbox, click here to sign up!
Charging Forward,
Dory Larsen
Powering the EV Movement
Knoxville Transit is Electrifying
The City of Knoxville recently secured a $4.8 million federal grant to add six electric buses to the Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) fleet. This investment comes after and will be in addition to, the City’s already-purchased twelve electric buses. The City also has a worthy and applaudable goal to have the KAT fleet 100% electrified by 2030. Read more.
Electrifying school buses will benefit local economy and children’s health
The Clean Commute for Kids Act would authorize $25 billion over the next 10 years to provide grants to replace existing school buses with clean, zero-emission buses nationwide, with 40% of this funding directed toward communities that have been hardest hit by the adverse impacts of climate change, including communities of color and rural communities. Read more.
To solve the climate crisis, invest in how kids get to school
From school yards to depots, diesel buses expose our most vulnerable students to emissions — 70% of children from low-income families take the bus to school, compared to just 50% of children from families with higher incomes. If we want to solve the climate crisis here at home, we should start by protecting our nation’s children, teachers and neighborhoods from pollution. The answer is simple: deploy electric school buses. Read more.
Get Plugged-In
Orlando Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive
Event August 14
Join us for a FREE test drive in an electric vehicle! The best way to see how fun, easy, and practical electric vehicles (EV) are is to drive one for yourself! EDF Action (advocacy arm of Environmental Defense Fund) is hosting a free event with our drive partner Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to provide drives for those 25 years and up with a valid driver's license or rides for anyone. Sign-up on the day of the event at the Driving on Sunshine Tent to test drive a Tesla Model 3 or X. Stay and have a bite to eat inside at Henry's Depot and check out the booths from local environmental groups. Limited spots available, first-come, first-served on day of event. Please, bring a valid drivers license to participate in ride and drives. Masks required in vehicles.
Orlando Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive
Saturday, August 14, 3 PM - 7 PM ET Henry's Depot
212 W 1st Street, Sanford, Florida 32771
Powering Up America: Atlanta Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive
Event August 19
Join us on August 19th from 3 pm - 8 pm at The Gathering Spot for an amazing day of fun activities, food, music, and drinks! Learn about electric vehicles, clean energy, jobs, and transportation. Our goal is to create visibility and climate change action around clean energy jobs and transportation by hosting an in-person event. The purpose of this event is to create and build upon momentum to get members of Congress to act on increasing funding for clean energy, jobs, and transportation. Come meet and greet other environmental advocates, community leaders, and much more from 6 pm - 8 pm, with test-driving electric vehicles starting from 3 pm - 6 pm.
The best way to see how fun, easy, and practical electric vehicles (EV) are is to drive one for yourself! EDF Action (advocacy arm of Environmental Defense Fund) is hosting a free event with our drive partner Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to provide drives for those 25 years and up with a valid driver's license or rides for anyone.
Sign-up on the day of the event at the Driving on Sunshine Tent to test drive a Tesla Model 3 or X. Limited spots available, first-come, first-served on day of event. Please, bring a valid drivers license to participate in ride and drives. Masks required in vehicles.
Powering Up America: Atlanta Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive
Thursday, August 19, 3 PM - 8 PM ET The Gathering Spot
384 Northyards Blvd NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30318
Charge for Change: Raleigh and Durham Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive
Event August 21
The time for clean energy investment is now. We are at a crossroads where we must have massive investment in our climate coupled with divestment from fossil fuels.
This event highlights the need for clean energy transportation solutions through the following:
Electric vehicle Ride and Drive opportunities through the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Networking with leading small businesses, non profits, and community leaders on local solutions and clean energy manufacturing jobs.
Education on innovative policy solutions
More
The best way to see how fun, easy, and practical electric vehicles (EV) are is to drive one for yourself! EDF Action (advocacy arm of Environmental Defense Fund) is hosting a free event with our drive partner Southern Alliance for Clean Energy to provide drives for those 25 years and up with a valid driver's license or rides for anyone.
Sign-up on the day of the event at the Driving on Sunshine Tent to test drive a Tesla Model 3 or X. Limited spots available, first-come, first-served on day of event. Please, bring a valid drivers license to participate in ride and drives. Masks required in vehicles.
Charge for Change: Raleigh and Durham Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive
Raleigh, North Carolina
Action
The specialty license plate campaign in North Carolina continues to move forward and only 68 license plate applications are needed to get across the finish line! North Carolinians interested in getting the specialty license plate design can still apply, and applicants' initial $10 fee will be covered by Plug-in NC. If the design is approved, the plate can increase awareness of and support for electric vehicles no matter what kind of vehicle they are on.
North Carolina Electric Vehicle License Plate
Action
Drive Electric Tennessee has worked with stakeholders throughout the state to design a unique license plate in Tennessee to promote electric vehicles. The first 1,000 people to register for one of these specialty EV license plates will receive free registration for their first year. Beyond donning a new, personalized plate on your car with seven speciality letters, registering for your plate will help promote EVs throughout the state. The proceeds from these specialty license plates will also be used to fund DET’s projects and programs to create a future of renewable energy, encourage economic growth, and protect community health throughout Tennessee. Drive Electric Tennessee needs 1,000 registrations to make this EV plate happen, apply today!
Tennessee Electric Vehicle License Plate
Paving the Way
Fossil fuels won round one of North Carolina’s Volkswagen settlement payout, with the state buying mostly diesel school buses and other gas-powered vehicles that will spew climate pollution into the atmosphere for the next decade or more. But Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration is proposing a shift in course for the last two-thirds, $68 million, of the state’s windfall. A draft plan issued this month focuses on deploying zero-emission electric vehicles and helping to achieve the state’s climate initiatives.
“It is exciting to see DEQ prioritizing transportation electrification in underserved and under-resourced communities,” said Stan Cross, electric transportation policy director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is picking up speed—good news for manufacturing in the United States, which led the world in EV exports until last year, when Germany seized the top spot. Just as the U.S. was losing its early advantage, global EV sales surged. The American Jobs Plan (AJP) would re-establish the U.S. as the world’s top EV exporter, creating millions of jobs. To fully capture this opportunity, we need all of the EV, battery, and manufacturing elements in the AJP. Now is the moment to align global electric vehicle market momentum, climate change solutions, pandemic recovery, and long-term American economic vitality.
US Senators Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA) announced in late June that more than $5.4 million in federal grant funding will be awarded to the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority to purchase electric buses. The Low-No Program through the Federal Transit Administration provides funding to state and local government authorities for the purchase or lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses, including acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting facilities.
Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (ATL) has 166 coaches in its fleet and no electric buses to date, so new electric buses is a significant milestone.
Starting to dip your toes into the world of transportation electrification and electric vehicles but intimidated by all the acronyms and vocabulary? In this post from the Transportation Electrification Series from Edison Energy goes over all the ins and outs of the language you need to talk like an electric vehicle industry pro. It covers everything from regenerative braking systems and level 3 charging, to load management, TCO, and more.
There's an art form to electric vehicle charging, but it's feasible. By integrating charging, load management, generation, and storage onsite, the EV charging experience will be optimized within the performance confines of the local grid. EVs rarely need a public charger. Typically, they need a percent charge to get drivers home or to their next charger. When the EV charger can ask drivers charging how much charge is needed and by when the load can be managed and drivers expectations met.
Readers Kicking Gas
Every month we'll spotlight stories and photos from YOU, our readers, about how EVs play a role in your world. To be featured in an upcoming ETS newsletter, send us an email here!
Michelle Lewis, St. Petersburg, Florida
Michelle Lewis has been writing for Electrek, which covers a wide range of issues from energy to transportation, for nearly two years. Pre-pandemic Michelle took a ride in a Tesla Model 3 as part of our Driving On Sunshine ride and drive roadshow. And earlier this summer, Michelle took delivery of a Tesla Model 3 – her very first electric car. In her piece I just bought my very first Tesla. Here’s what happened, she describes how the whole process went, from the initial order to final delivery. In her own words Michelle says of driving electric, "Nothing prepared me for the weird euphoria I feel about our Model 3. This is the best kind of car, because it’s stupidly fun, it’s gorgeous, and it’s fast. I drive it with a stupid grin on my face. I truly get the fanaticism now. And we don’t have to go to the gas station anymore." Read the full article in Electrek.