Category: 2016 NDEW

2016 National Drive Electric Week Poolesville Day event a Success!

The 2016 National Drive Electric Week – Poolesville Day event was a resounding success!

The final registered electric vehicle count was 91 vehicles, 22 Models. We had a few cars not show up and a few that showed up, but never registered. The final count made this the largest National Drive Electric Week event on the east coast and the 5th largest event worldwide. Photo by Terri PittsThat is 5th out of the 235 events registered. Not bad for a small town in Maryland. We are still waiting on the final people count from the Town of Poolesville, but we expect it to be well over 10,000 people. We started organizing our event shortly after our 2015 event completed. In 2015 we had just over 40 vehicles, so this year, we more than doubled that. And, yes, we have already started planning for 2017.

It was an amazing record-making event. Electric vehicle owners came from all over the area and a number of dealerships participated and supported our event.

For some of the Virginia resident vehicle owners, the day started early with a MD Volt Meetup and ferry crossing to get some great photo ops as they crossed the Potomac River on the Civil War era White’s Ferry car transport. It was quite a site, seeing the historic White’s Ferry loaded with modern electric vehicles.
mark-czajka-md-volt-_092739862 mark-czajka-md-volt-_091900762_hdr mark-czajka-md-volt-091245655_hdr

terri-pitts-img_5046For the rest of Poolesville, the day started with a parade, which included a few of the electric cars, two all-electric motorcycles and two Star Wars Stormtroopers from the Old Line Garrison, the Maryland chapter of the worldwide 501st Legion. The Tesla Model X in the parade was driven and owned by local physician, Dr. Amar Duggirala, of Poolesville Family Practice. Another parade participant, a new KIA Soul EV was brought by Jim Alvis, Manager at Government Affairs for KIA Motors America Corporation, Washington Office.

KIA Motors America put on a first class operation. They brought 3 of the all new Electric KIA Souls. They provided more than 30 demo drives and rides and gave out a variety of KIA goodies that helped to entice people to give the Soul a look and a test drive. Their energetic team of people was a welcome addition to our event.

  

BMW of Rockville, back for another year, brought their i3 and the crowd-pleasing i8. People loved the very sporty look of the i8 with its swan or butterfly doors that open upwards and outwards. And the i3 with its equally unique doors and look drew a lot of attention as well. Next year we hope to feature the i8 as one of the parade cars.

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Sheehy Ford of Gaithersburg, who has attended our event for a number of years, brought the new Ford Fusion Energi (a plug-in electric hybrid) and the all-electric Ford Focus. To the delight of the audience, Sheehy Ford of Gaithersburg‘s Mike Engelmann demonstrated hands free, the self-parking ability of the Ford Fusion Energi.

King Volkswagen of Gaithersburg, a first-time participant at our event, brought a beautiful 2016 Volkswagen e-Golf.

DARCARS Nissan Rockville brought their well known and respected LEAF. Nissan is one of the National sponsors of the National Drive Electric Week and we were delighted to have DARCARS of Rockville represent Nissan.

We had 6 Zero Motorcycles, some were proud owners, but a number were from Cyclemax in Gaithersburg. Cyclemax also brought a display tent, their expertise and information on the Zeros.
  

Loved seeing the wide variety of vehicles, from the Chevy Volts to Nissan LEAFs to Honda Fit to Zero Motorcycles. But the unusual is always a cool draw, like the little “Smart fortwo electric drive” and the self made electric conversions, like the “E-Pacer”.
 

But for this author, my true love is the Ford Fusion Energi (I think it is one of the best-looking plug-ins out there, Okay, I may be bias, I own one), and the Tesla Model X (my ultimate dream car).
I loved seeing all of the amazing Teslas at our event. We had 2 Tesla Roadsters, 14 of the Tesla Model S and 7 of the show-stopping Model X. A number of the owners provided demo drives and rides.

Tesla owners attending our National Drive Electric Week Poolesville Day event showed off their stuff. The ludicrous 0-60 in 2.5 second Tesla Model S to the Falcon Wing doors of the Model X are always a big hit at any car show. And all of the added accessories.

We had a visit by honest Abe and the Washington National’s George Washington. George seems to have a real head for electric cars.

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We also loved having a couple members of the Old Line Garrison, the Maryland chapter of the worldwide 501st Legion. They represented their Garrison well and provided wonderful photo opportunities for car owners and show attendees alike. We would love to see them and their Rebel counterparts back next year, maybe in a larger force. Wouldn’t it be amazing to see 30 or more Star Wars StormTroopers marching in the parade?!

  

 

 

This year, Genovation Cars Inc. co-founder Andrew Saul, CEO, came with his Tesla Model S and talked to people about the company’s High-Performance All-Electric Corvette, the GXE. This is the car that made The Kessel Run in 12 parsecs…no wait that’s Star Wars… the GXE broke the EV speed record for a production electric car. It hit 205.6 mph, breaking their own world land speed record at NASA’Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds, Kennedy Space Center-Shuttle Landing Facility shuttle runway. A record that is sure to be broken again by the GXE before long. Andrew plans to bring the GXE Corvette to our 2017 event. We hope to include it in the parade. 

local-motors-olli-self-driving-vehicle-designboom-04-818x511Also for our 2017 event, we are working to entice Local Motors of National Harbor to bring their 3D printed car and their amazing Olli.

Next year we hope to again use the parking areas of Anytime Fitness Poolesville and that of the Bassett’s Fine Food & Spirits. This area proved to be a great location and will allow us to continue to expand and remain a major part of the Town of Poolesville and Poolesville Day.

Photos and Video Credits in this article:  JD Taylor (Poolesville.Green), Mark Czajka (MD Volt), Mike Engelmann, Terri Pitts, Jeffrey Cadman, Joyce Brehner, Rachel Epperty, Tony Juan, and Rick Hesel.

The National Drive Electric Week Poolesville Day event was hosted by Poolesville.Green with help from local Electric Vehicle user groups like MD Volt and supported by individuals and local and national businesses. We also appreciate the participation of the local and national car dealerships and manufacturers.

This 2016 event was supported by donated products and monetary support from the following (and you can still donate/sponsor us at: https://poolesville.green/support-us/):

mdvolt_website USAinSpaceLogo4-rounded  circle-logo    Bassets_Design_Sliced_01  Poolesville-Beer-Wine-Deli  HarrisTeeter-Darnestown-logo Poolesville Family Practice-Family   ge_website  logo_momsorganicmarket_glow

We thank all of the above sponsors for their support and could not have hosted on an event of this magnitude without it. We are already looking for support for an even better 2017 event and want to thank MD Volt for its early donation.

We also could not have done this without the continued national organizational input from Nissan LEAFPlug In America, Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association, who serve as the national team providing support to the events throughout the country.

For more information, visit:

*** Press Release *** We did it! #1 on East Coast

Well this will be AWESOME!

On Poolesville Day at the National Drive Electric Week car show, event located across from Bassett’s Fine Food & Spirits, will be over 80 (81 and counting) #EV#PHEV vehicles that you can look at, talk to the owners of and to dealerships and even some that you can test drive or ride!

We will have over 22 models from BMWs, Teslas, Kia Motors America,Chevy‘s, Ford Motor Companys, Nissans to Zero Motorcycles and more.

We have more registered vehicles than any other #NDEW2016 event on the east coast and currently rank 5th worldwide (out of 240 NDEW events). That is BIG! And it is here in the Town of Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland on Sept 17 from 10am – 4pm!

Dealerships like BMW of Rockville, Sheehy Ford Lincoln of Gaithersburg.DARCARS Nissan Rockville, Cyclemax, King Volkswagen and Kia Motors America will be there.

Oh, did I mention that a few members of the Old Line Garrison, 501st Legion will also be there!

We are still looking for Volunteers to help out: Go to https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=519 and click on Volunteer.

We also need Sponsors/Donations too. Go to https://poolesville.green/support-us/ and click on Donate (on the top right side). We are a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.

Learn more: https://poolesville.green/posted-stories/press-release-national-drive-electric-week-poolesville-2016/

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*** Press Release *** NDEW – Poolesville 2016 – 2nd Largest on the East Coast

Alpharetta, Georgia passed Poolesville to take 1st place on the East Coast with 73 registered cars. Congrats!. Their very successful event was held on Sept 10th. Poolesville has 72 vehicles registered and still counting. Poolesville is on track for being the largest National Drive Electric Week on the east coast. We have more than 70 Plug-In Electric Vehicles (20 Models) already signed up and expecting more than 10,000 people to attend.

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For more information on NDEW-Poolesville see: https://poolesville.green/drive-electric/press-release-national-drive-electric-week-poolesville-2016/

Current Registered Electric Vehicle count for 17 East Coast States (including Washington DC), 76 events.

City State/Province Count 9/13 Day(s)
Alpharetta Georgia 73 Sep 10, 2016
Poolesville Maryland 72 Sep 17, 2016
Brookline Massachusetts 49 Sep 17, 2016
Delmar New York 48 Sep 17, 2016
Oldsmar Florida 42 Sep 17, 2016
Annapolis Maryland 38 Sep 10, 2016
Satellite Beach Florida 35 Sep 17, 2016
Cranston Rhode Island 35 Sep 10, 2016
Cranberry Township Pennsylvania 34 Sep 10, 2016
Sarasota Florida 33 Sep 10, 2016
Orlando Florida 30 Sep 10, 2016
Charlotte North Carolina 29 Sep 10, 2016
Middletown Connecticut 28 Sep 10, 2016
Morristown New Jersey 28 Sep 10, 2016
Rochester New York 28 Sep 13, 2016
Fairfield Connecticut 27 Sep 10, 2016
Jacksonville Florida 27 Sep 16, 2016
Kennett Square Pennsylvania 27 Sep 10, 2016
Worcester Massachusetts 25 Sep 13, 2016
New London New Hampshire 24 Sep 11, 2016
Raleigh North Carolina 24 Sep 16, 2016
South Portland Maine 23 Sep 11, 2016
Baltimore Maryland 22 Sep 11, 2016
Bridgewater New Jersey 22 Sep 14, 2016
Montclair New Jersey 22 Sep 11, 2016
Ithaca New York 22 Sep 17, 2016
West Palm Beach Florida 20 Sep 18, 2016
Vincentown New Jersey 20 Sep 17, 2016
Asheville North Carolina 18 Sep 11, 2016
Cary North Carolina 18 Sep 10, 2016
Virginia Beach Virginia 18 Sep 17, 2016
Syracuse New York 17 Sep 11, 2016
Burlington Vermont 17 Sep 14, 2016
Richmond Virginia 17 Sep 17, 2016
New Britain Connecticut 16 Sep 11, 2016
Columbia South Carolina 16 Sep 10, 2016
Washington District Of Columbia 14 Sep 18, 2016
Freeport New York 14 Sep 10, 2016
Metuchen New Jersey 13 Sep 10, 2016
Concord New Hampshire 12 Sep 17, 2016
Durham New Hampshire 12 Sep 17, 2016
Walpole Massachusetts 11 Sep 11, 2016
Poughkeepsie New York 11 Sep 18, 2016
Jones Beach New York 11 Sep 14, 2016
Arlington Virginia 11 Sep 17, 2016
Williston Vermont 10 Sep 11, 2016
Old Saybrook Connecticut 9 Sep 14, 2016
South Paris Maine 9 Sep 10, 2016
Amherst Massachusetts 9 Sep 15, 2016
Bluffton South Carolina 9 Sep 10, 2016
Orlando Florida 8 Sep 13, 2016
Kingston New York 8 Sep 17, 2016
Charlotte North Carolina 8 Sep 12, 2016
Burlington Vermont 8 Sep 13, 2016
Groton Connecticut 7 Sep 15, 2016
Conyers Georgia 7 Sep 10, 2016
State College Pennsylvania 7 Sep 18, 2016
Woodbridge Virginia 7 Sep 10, 2016
Somers Connecticut 6 Sep 17, 2016
Destin Florida 6 Sep 16, 2016
Wayne Pennsylvania 6 Sep 14, 2016
Middletown Connecticut 5 Sep 18, 2016
Wallingford Connecticut 5 Sep 17, 2016
Rehoboth Beach Delaware 5 Sep 18, 2016
Pensacola Florida 5 Sep 10, 2016
Reading Massachusetts 5 Sep 17, 2016
Atlantic City New Jersey 5 Sep 13, 2016
Westfield Massachusetts 4 Sep 17, 2016
Binghamton New York 4 Sep 10, 2016
Pleasantville New York 4 Sep 10, 2016
Aiken South Carolina 4 Sep 17, 2016
Edenton North Carolina 3 Sep 17, 2016
Hyattsville Maryland 2 Sep 17, 2016
Braintree Massachusetts 2 Sep 17, 2016
White Plains New York 1 Sep 14, 2016
Pembroke North Carolina 1 Sep 17, 2016
Springfield Massachusetts 0 Sep 17, 2016

 

**** Press Release **** NDEW – Poolesville 2016 – Largest on the East Coast

Poolesville is on track for being the largest National Drive Electric Week on the east coast. We have more than 60 Plug-In Electric Vehicles already signed up and expecting more than 10,000 people to attend.

Current Registered Electric Vehicle count for 17 East Coast States (including Washington DC), 76 events.

City Vehicles as of 9/8 State/Province Day(s)
Poolesville 61 Maryland Sep 17, 2016
Alpharetta 59 Georgia Sep 10, 2016
Brookline 42 Massachusetts Sep 17, 2016
Delmar 40 New York Sep 17, 2016
Annapolis 36 Maryland Sep 10, 2016
Oldsmar 35 Florida Sep 17, 2016
Sarasota 33 Florida Sep 10, 2016
Cranberry Township 32 Pennsylvania Sep 10, 2016
Satellite Beach 31 Florida Sep 17, 2016
Cranston 30 Rhode Island Sep 10, 2016
Orlando 28 Florida Sep 10, 2016
Charlotte 27 North Carolina Sep 10, 2016
Fairfield 25 Connecticut Sep 10, 2016
Kennett Square 24 Pennsylvania Sep 10, 2016
Middletown 23 Connecticut Sep 10, 2016
Morristown 23 New Jersey Sep 10, 2016
Jacksonville 22 Florida Sep 16, 2016
Raleigh 22 North Carolina Sep 16, 2016
West Palm Beach 21 Florida Sep 18, 2016
South Portland 21 Maine Sep 11, 2016
Rochester 21 New York Sep 13, 2016
Worcester 21 Massachusetts Sep 13, 2016
Ithaca 20 New York Sep 17, 2016
New London 19 New Hampshire Sep 11, 2016
Montclair 18 New Jersey Sep 11, 2016
Bridgewater 17 New Jersey Sep 14, 2016
Richmond 17 Virginia Sep 17, 2016
Vincentown 16 New Jersey Sep 17, 2016
Cary 16 North Carolina Sep 10, 2016
Baltimore 15 Maryland Sep 11, 2016
Syracuse 14 New York Sep 11, 2016
Asheville 14 North Carolina Sep 11, 2016
Columbia 14 South Carolina Sep 10, 2016
Washington 13 District Of Columbia Sep 18, 2016
Burlington 13 Vermont Sep 14, 2016
Durham 12 New Hampshire Sep 17, 2016
New Britain 12 Connecticut Sep 11, 2016
Metuchen 12 New Jersey Sep 10, 2016
Freeport 12 New York Sep 10, 2016
Concord 10 New Hampshire Sep 17, 2016
Poughkeepsie 10 New York Sep 18, 2016
Williston 10 Vermont Sep 11, 2016
Walpole 9 Massachusetts Sep 11, 2016
Orlando 9 Florida Sep 13, 2016
South Paris 9 Maine Sep 10, 2016
Bluffton 9 South Carolina Sep 10, 2016
Arlington 9 Virginia Sep 17, 2016
Charlotte 8 North Carolina Sep 12, 2016
Conyers 7 Georgia Sep 10, 2016
Kingston 7 New York Sep 17, 2016
Jones Beach 7 New York Sep 14, 2016
Old Saybrook 6 Connecticut Sep 14, 2016
Woodbridge 6 Virginia Sep 10, 2016
Burlington 6 Vermont Sep 13, 2016
Amherst 5 Massachusetts Sep 15, 2016
Groton 5 Connecticut Sep 15, 2016
Middletown 5 Connecticut Sep 18, 2016
Somers 5 Connecticut Sep 17, 2016
Destin 5 Florida Sep 16, 2016
Atlantic City 5 New Jersey Sep 13, 2016
Pensacola 4 Florida Sep 10, 2016
Binghamton 4 New York Sep 10, 2016
Pleasantville 4 New York Sep 10, 2016
Wayne 4 Pennsylvania Sep 14, 2016
Wallingford 3 Connecticut Sep 17, 2016
Rehoboth Beach 3 Delaware Sep 18, 2016
Edenton 3 North Carolina Sep 17, 2016
Westfield 1 Massachusetts Sep 17, 2016
White Plains 1 New York Sep 14, 2016
Pembroke 1 North Carolina Sep 17, 2016
Aiken 1 South Carolina Sep 17, 2016
Braintree 0 Massachusetts Sep 17, 2016
Reading 0 Massachusetts Sep 17, 2016
Springfield 0 Massachusetts Sep 17, 2016
Wilmington 0 Delaware n/a
Virginia Beach 0 Virginia Sep 14, 2016

A National count and World count coming soon.

**** Press Release **** National Drive Electric Week – Poolesville 2016

National Drive Electric Week – Poolesville 2016

Poolesville is on track for being the 1st or 2nd largest National Drive Electric Week on the east coast. Our 4th annual National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) – Poolesville Day event is tied with the Town of Poolesville’s 24th annual Poolesville Day event.  The combined two events draws in 10,000 to 15,000 people from the surrounding Maryland/Virginia/DC area. The event will be on Sept 17, 2016 from 10 am – 4 pm, located just across from the Bassett’s Fine Food & Spirits Restaurant.

The National Drive Electric Week  “is a nationwide celebration to heighten awareness of today’s widespread availability of plug-in vehicles and highlight the benefits of all-electric and plug-in hybrid-electric cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more. ” – read more at https://driveelectricweek.org.

Our Poolesville event continues to grow thanks to the support of the Town of Poolesville, the Poolesville Day committee, and local Electric Vehicle (EV) organizations like MD Volt (http://MDVolt.org/), but mostly through the enthusiastic EV owners who share their time, their vehicles and their experiences with the general public. We also have dealerships, like DARCARS Nissan Rockville, King Volkswagen of RockvilleBMW of Rockville and others, that bring the latest technologies and their experienced sales people to can answer even more questions, Some will even provide on site test drives and rides. This event is also supported by local businesses, organizations and regular people like you (sponsors, listed below) that donate money and valuable items that we use to enhance the experience and to provide free give-a-ways at the event.

We will have Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) of every kind and model at the show. From the quickest production car made, the Tesla Model S (which happens to be all electric) that goes from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds to some of the coolest looking vehicles like the BMW i8 or the Tesla Model X. We will even have all electric motorcycles like the Zero.

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We will have officials from dealerships and manufacturers, like Jean Gough, EV Fleet Business Development Manager from Nissan North America, Inc. and Jim Alvis, Manager at Government Affairs for Kia Motors America Corporation, Washington Office (who is bringing a new Kia Soul EV).

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A few members from the Star Wars 501st Stormtroopers, Maryland Old Line Garrison will be at the event, which will provide some great photo ops.

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For more information, visit:

We want to thank this year’s sponsors (and you can still donate/sponsor us at: https://poolesville.green/support-us/ )

mdvolt_website USAinSpaceLogo4-rounded  circle-logo    Bassets_Design_Sliced_01  Poolesville-Beer-Wine-Deli  HarrisTeeter-Darnestown-logo Poolesville Family Practice-Family   ge_website  logo_momsorganicmarket_glow