By Nancy Olds
Brimming with excitement, Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft mentioned during his remarks in one of the presentation rooms at the Clark County Decatur Campus, that this event was tremendous for anyone attending because “most importantly you are getting opportunities like this one to get hands on information, get the data, get the facts, and kick the tires.” Commissioner Naft, an electric vehicle owner, marveled at the amount of information now available for anyone seeking to own an electric vehicle. Compared to when he bought his EV some years ago. Commissioner Naft is credited for keeping roads and pedestrians safer in Clark County.
Electric vehicle enthusiasts were welcome to view quite an array of electric cars, not just the ubiquitous Teslas, an electric motorcycle, one Ford F-150 electric truck, and some electric bicycles (ebikes) at the National Drive Electric Week event.
Quite a few various models of electric cars, about thirty different models and brands, with their owners and some representatives from car dealerships, were on hand to answer questions. Some of the brands that I saw were a KIA, Volvo, Cadillac, Nissan, Ford, a fully decked out Jeep Rubican, Toyota, Rivian, etc. I’ve never seen so many electric vehicles parked together! Boulder City Police Department electric cars appeared at this event. Imagine Tesla Model Ys and Model 3s patrol cars and one Mustang Mach-E SUV patrol vehicle on Saturday, September 30 at the Clark County Russell and Decatur Campus on 4701 West Russell Road in Las Vegas!
Olivia Burns, an environmental specialist with the Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability, was our contact person in planning to bring our team out there on Saturday, September 30. She was instrumental in coordinating all of the vendors for the event and working with the news media. Olivia Burns consistently gave us updates and provided maps where the events were located.
Our Southern Nevada Group Chapter of the Sierra Club appeared with several other environmental organizations to show our enthusiastic support for electric vehicles for Clark County. Tracy Puckett, Nola Healy Lynch, and I brought a few tables, we posted displays as best as we could in the wind, we offered some NON GMO treats, and distributed pamphlets while we gave the kids some coloring book pages with pictures of serene parks, coral reefs, and electric bicycles.
A very pleasant culinary surprise were the vegan and vegetarian dishes from vendors on the scene! The food that I bought from two of the three food vendors were great and high quality choices. These vendors were doing a brisk business!
A pop-up tent posted “Talk with an EV owner” got the conversation going with visitors who wanted to understand how EVs operate. This was a golden opportunity to know how an EV owner has adapted their daily life by owning an electric vehicle and what is required to keep their vehicles optimally charged.
Despite a very windy day (wind power anyone?) over 300 registrants attended this year’s National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) Saturday’s event. There were 72 rides & drives, free test driving some selected electric vehicles for attendees. This year was the first ever time that our Clark County government became an active partner with this event! The growing interest in hybrid and electric transportation means a cleaner and eco-friendly future for Nevadans. As charging stations for hybrid and electric vehicles are becoming more accessible, our former dependence on fossil fuels will benefit our communities. This NDEW event is proving that Clark County is ready to go the distance!