EV Week kicks off plug-in car education in SF Bay Area from Sept 23-27

September is going to be a month of education about electric cars in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. The SF Bay Area education outreach will begin with EV Week 2013 organized by Charge Across Town, and is followed by National Plug-in Day 2013 organized by Plug-in America. EV Week covers three cities, San Francisco, Palo Alto, and San Jose, with events and activities meant to educate Bay Area drivers about the benefits of driving all-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles. While the SF Bay Area is the top Nissan Leaf market, and maybe the top market for electric cars overall, there are still a lot of people here to educate about their benefits.

Getting drivers behind the wheel of a plug-in electric car (butts in seats) is widely recognized as the best way to educate drivers about electric vehicle benefits. EV Week 2013 will feature EV Ride & Drives at each event, and the organizers goal is to have 1000 people test drive plug-in electric cars. In 2012 they had over 300 people take test drives.

Every major auto manufacturer will be involved, and the list of vehicles on display will include: Honda Accord PHEV, Honda Fit EV, Ford C-MAX Energi, Ford Fusion Energi, Ford Focus Electric, Chevy Spark EV, Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, Toyota RAV4 EV (Gen 2), Smart Electric Drive, Fiat 500e, and the Tesla Model S. EV Week organizers hope to show that there is an EV for everyone. Other participants include

Scoot Networks will be showing the electric scooters used in their San Francisco based scooter sharing network; Mahindra GenZe will be showing their electric scooter design; Envision Solar will be showing the EV ARC solar powered electric car charging station; PG&E will be showing the Via Motors VTRUX and several of their clean fleet cars; Schneider Electric, ChargePoint will be showing their electric car charging technology.

EV Week is in its second year. In its 2012 incarnation, EV Week was held solely in San Francisco, had a similar range of activities, and had over 300 people test driving plug-in electric cars. The 2013 incarnation is bigger and better, and includes Silicon Valley as well as San Francisco.

The event will run from Sept 23 to 27, beginning in San Francisco at the Justin Herman Plaza. Test drives will occur along the Embarcadero, and an EV Expo will run all day on the 23rd and 24th at Justin Herman Plaza.

On the 25th the event moves to Palo Alto, at the Palo Alto City Hall Plaza. That location is just off University Ave, giving easy access for anyone on that busy street full of shopping and technology companies.

On the 26th and 27th, EV Week moves to San Jose at the Santana Row shopping center, as well as an event in collaboration with GreenTown Los Altos at the Los Altos Farmers Market. At Santana Row test drives will be conducted in Santana Row, along with educational exhibits, and a reception to be held at the Santana Row Tesla Store.

The EV Week activities are immediately followed by National Plug-in Day. This nation-wide event is scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 28-29, and is organized by Plug-in America, the Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association. The 2013 Plug-in Day will be held in over 50 cities across the U.S. and will feature local drivers and advocates of plug-in cars, as well as other events such as EV parades, test drive events, tailgate parties, press conferences and more. In the SF Bay Area, Plug-in Day events will be held at

De Anza College, Sept. 28, and is also the 41st annual Silicon Valley EAA EV Rally (the event which used to be held in Palo Alto); Folsom Premium Outlet Mall, Sept. 29, for the Sacramento region; Petaluma Plaza South, Sept. 29, for the North Bay Area; Marin County Civic Center, Sept. 29, for Marin County, next to the Sunday Farmers Market; Staff of Life Market, Santa Cruz, Sept. 29, for the Monterey Bay area

You can learn more at their respective websites: EV Week 2013, National Plug-in Day