June 30, 2016
Electric Vehicles Take Center Stage in North Texas
Through joint coordination with stakeholders, EV supply equipment companies, passionate EV owners, and many others, our outreach efforts hit the target. We credit those parties, as well as our dedicated DFWCC staff members, with providing much-needed EV education to North Texas residents to get people energized and informed about this new technology.
Electric vehicles (EVs) took center stage at a variety of events designed to educate participants about available vehicles as well as the related charging infrastructure.
"With stakeholder feedback indicating the need for more EV education, we took a multi-pronged approach to increase our educational outreach," said Pamela Burns, coordinator of the Dallas Fort-Worth Clean Cities coalition (DFWCC). "Workplace Charging has been a hot topic lately, so we welcomed the opportunity to participate in the Texas Workplace Charging Roadshow," Burns said. "As the last location on a tour that stopped in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, the DFWCC event educated attendees about the benefits, opportunities, and availability of workplace EV charging."
The event also featured presentations from the U.S. Department of Energy, ChargePoint, Nissan, and DFWCC.
Another outreach opportunity arose when the nationally renowned Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas invited the coalition to participate in the museum's "discovery days" initiative. Coalition staff members were on hand to answer questions about alternative fuel vehicles while thousands of students checked out the EVs on display.
Finally, after nearly a year of planning, DFWCC hosted a successful National Drive Electric Week event in Grapevine, Texas. The event encouraged owners to bring out nearly 115 EVs--smashing the previous North Texas record for the most EVs in one location.
"Thanks to a robust marketing campaign that included bill-board, radio, online, and social media advertising, the DFWCC National Drive Electric Week event was a tremendous success," Burns said. "We couldn't have done it without the support from the EV owners, partners, and local entities that helped spread the word via social media."
The coalition also sponsored the North Texas Renewable Energy Group's Solar Tour, where attendees visited homes to see different types of solar power installations and were given the chance to test drive a variety of EVs.
"The summer was undeniably busy—planning several events over a relatively short time period is never easy," Burns said. "Through joint coordination with stakeholders, EV supply equipment companies, passionate EV owners, and many others, our outreach efforts hit the target," she said. "We credit those parties, as well as our dedicated DFWCC staff members, with providing much-needed EV education to North Texas residents to get people energized and informed about this new technology."
