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PluginIndia Electric Vehicles

Drive Electric Week : 165 Cities, 3 Countries

5/9/2015

2 Comments

 
By Kamlesh Mallick
Every year in America, EV advocacy group Plug-In America collaborates with other groups and host a variety of activities that raise awareness of plug-in vehicles.  They used to call the event - National Pluginday.
It is now entering its second year as National Drive Electric Week, and organizers say this year's will be bigger than ever.
Last year's National Drive Electric Week set records, but organizers believe they will be broken this year.
More than 170 events in 165 cities are already planned for National Drive Electric Week 2015, which will be held
in September 12 to 20.  They'll take place in 39 U.S. states, along with Canada and Hong Kong.

National Plug In Day was started in 2011. The idea was to hold simultaneous events across the U.S. on the same day, by reaching out to share the many advantages of driving electric with the public.

Picture
National Pluginday 2014
Picture
National Drive Electric Week 2014

How bout creating such an event in India?
Usually each event is led by local EV drivers and EV advocates. The event can includes EV parades, test rides, press conferences, informational booths, talks and more.
What would it take to organize an event like this in multiple cities at a same time?
  • We would need a small but dedicated team, who are passionate about EV's in each city
  • Each team could plan out event details, activities, locations specific to a city (its always good to choose a location, where lots of people will likely already be congregating)
  • Discuss sponsorship opportunities.  Invite corporates and even local municipalities.
  • Each team could also collaborate with dealers who sell EV's.  They could set up stalls for test drives, bookings and basic knowledge sharing.
  • Once each city team has made plans for the event, got a location, secured sponsorship, Its time for a inter city team meet to decide on a date.  It could be a 1 day event happening in parallel or events happening in multiple cities on weekends for upto a month. 
  • Raise awareness of the event, by advertising in local radio, newspaper. Tap into local colleges and corporates for enhanced awareness of the event.
  • Include the press for more coverage

Our government organized an event called the FAME eco drive in Delhi in June.  I'm not sure if the event really educated the public or created an impact.  Maybe the community can do better.
Organizing something like this would involve coordinated work among teams and can take months of preparation. 
But then at the end of the event, even if 10% of the visitors can appreciate what an EV stands for, then you have done your job.

Please write your thoughts below and if you are serious about wanting to plan for such an event 
in your city, do contact me @ [email protected] or via the contact form
2 Comments
Ramesh Krishnan
6/9/2015 01:43:46 pm

India needs to have a a certain percentage of automakers' fleets include electric vehicles.

Every single vehicle (Truck, Bus, car, Auto, scooter, motorcycle) company who wants to make and sell these in India should at least make 5% of the vehicles as electric vehicles and sell them locally.

These companies should be made to offer infrastructure support too.

The Govt needs to kick these car companies in their balls to get them moving.

Reply
Kamlesh Mallick
11/9/2015 12:02:31 pm

LOL, yeah government kicking these auto companies to get them to create more EV's would be when the fun starts!

In fact do you know, the government in California, USA has a law which forbids auto makers to sell the cars in that state, if they dont offer an EV!
The drawback of such a law, is that many companies like Honda create cars only for that state and make limited quantities. Basically they dont care about EV's and are just have a model to satisfy that condition.

Cant see our government taking such a stance here.
One day when OIL prices start going up and world starts to realize that OIL is a finite resource, the politicians will wake up.

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  • Home
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