I watched a video by a guy named John Gallagher this week.
And I was excited by what he had to say.
You see, John Gallagher is organizing a National Drive Electric Week gathering in Oklahoma City. It shouldn’t be surprising that there will be such
an event in OKC, but it is. OKC, like my own hometown, is just not that
interested in such things. We are conservative and extravagant in our thinking.
Why would we be interested in something thrifty and short range when our surroundings
encourage us to seek comfort and rugged utility? Why drive a Leaf when I can
have a well-appointed four-door Ford F150 for similar money? Why worry about the
environment when I can worry about paying the bills and keeping myself
distracted? Having the gathering in OKC is the first of three surprises (for
me) in John’s video.
The second surprise in the video is that John does not own
an electric car. He explains that he does not own one but he does understand that
electric cars are the obvious and appealing next step in personal
transportation. I always expect the organizer of such an event to fall into one
of two camps – the old-school early adopter or the very enthusiastic newcomer
to EVs. Just so you can visually follow my thinking – I expect the old-school
guy to be driving a Ford Pinto he converted to electric in the 1980’s or maybe
he stumbled upon an old and neglected Citicar and lovingly restored it. (Sigh)
The newcomer, on the other hand, I picture driving a Tesla, wearing a Tesla hat
(and possibly monogrammed Tesla underwear), and wearing a T-shirt that
commands, “Question Internal Combustion!”
The third surprise in John’s video is learning that he
drives an oil tanker truck for a living. Yep, he pulls up to a drilling site,
fills his truck with crude oil, and delivers it to a pipeline to be pumped
cross-country to a refinery. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That’s how he pays the
bills.So, here’s where it gets a bit sticky for me. That guy is up in OKC organizing a Drive Electric Event, and there is no drive electric event happening in Lubbock, Texas. And that guy doesn’t blog all the time about electric vehicles. That guy doesn’t own an electric vehicle. I own several – a few of them even run! Hmmm…
When I search for public EV charging in Lubbock, I only find
the Nissan dealership. [Last minute update: Googlemaps is now showing Rick's Tire Warehouse and Dave's Custom Carts as possible public charging stations, but I have not verified either.] [Another update: Rick's Tire Warehouse reported back that they do NOT have an electric car charging station.]
So, where would be a logical place for a Lubbock EV event?
We can’t really gather around the one (or one of the three) charger(s) in town, can we? Should we ask a
local battery retailer to sponsor an event? How about a local eating place? The
Rust, Inc. crew gathers at Jumbo Joe’s. The guys with shiny old cars often
gather at Sonic. Maybe we should gather at a local park.
Speaking of “we”, will this be just like junior high where I
show up and wonder where everyone is? I am seeing more and more EV’s around
town. Last week I spotted a black Tesla Model S in town. Yesterday I spotted a
white BMW i3 - the second one in town. One of my co-workers just texted me a
photo of a Tesla Roadster he spotted in Lamesa, Texas, a small town about an
hour south of here. And I am seeing more and more Leafs. I did see a guy riding a Zero FX on Slide Road recently. It's not a revolution,
but they are starting to show up. The real question is will they show up to an event? I am waiting for a Field of Dreams voice of inspiration, but it just has not happened yet.
And why should I bother? Is it because I would love to have
an electric car to replace my beloved (but flawed) Lucy? No, what I’d really
like is for a whole lot of us to find some form of non-polluting personal transport,
and an electric car seems a great place to start.
May we reach our destination without destroying
our home.
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