EV parade ushers in 2011 as the ‘Year of the Electric Car’

HONOLULU—The first annual Electric Car Rally rolls in on Thursday, December 30. The event, presented by Green Energy Outlet, designates 2011 as the “Year of the Electric Car” recognizing the introduction of several electric vehicles (EV) to the Hawai‘i market in 2011, including the Nissan Leaf, the Chevrolet Volt, and Coda’s electric sedan.

“Unlike regular cars, EVs allow us to take advantage of our abundant clean energy resources,” says Blue Planet Foundation executive director Jeff Mikulina. “By virtue of their built-in batteries, EVs can run on stored sunshine at night and surplus wind energy all day.”

He added: “EVs will play a major role in Hawai‘i’s ecosystem of sustainable mobility solutions.”

The parade of EVs, featuring the Tesla Roadster belonging to Blue Planet Foundation founder Henk Rogers, will begin at Ford Island’s Pacific Aviation Museum at 8:00 p.m. am and make its way to the Kaneohe Marine Corps Base Hawaii. The EV procession will continue around southeast Oahu, making stops at Kailua Elementary School, Maunalua Bay Beach Park, Kahala Community Park, Kapiolani Park, and Ala Moana Beach Park, before arriving at Mother Waldron Park, where attendees will be treated to a free performance by slack key guitarist Makana at 3:00 p.m. Spectators are invited to view the cars at any of the stops.

Representatives from the automobile industry, government leaders, and clean transportation advocates will also convene at Mother Waldron Park, where guests can explore new innovations in EV and charging technologies.

The rally closes with a screening of the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? at Pipeline Cafe at 6:00 p.m. General admission is $10 ($5 for military or students). A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Plug In America and Blue Planet Foundation.

For directions and a detailed schedule, visit GoGeoGo.com.