At least one thing was moving in the nation's capital this past weekend: electric cars. The third annual National Plug In Day came to Washington, D.C., and about 100 other locations across the U.S. to celebrate cars that plug in instead of gas up. Participation ballooned from only 65 cities last year and included sites in the Netherlands and Mexico. According to the organizers, about 40,000 to 50,000 drivers total attended the events, to see—and in some cases, drive—everything from the Tesla Model S to the low-priced Nissan LEAF, plus other hybrids and plug-ins.
The biggest event was in Cupertino, Calif., with about 2,000 participants. Of course Cupertino is Ground Zero for high tech (Apple's headquarters is there, along with those of many, many other companies), and it's also been home to the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Electric Auto Association for over 40 years. Other participating cities included Las Vegas, Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, and San Diego.
Stan HanelIn Las Vegas, Nevada, plug-in cars gathered under a solar-panelled roof to charge up. Now that's green!
Boostering aside, electric cars remain an extremely small part of the industry: about 135,000 registered vehicles, according to event organizers, compared to well over 200 million traditional cars with internal-combustion engines.
The high ticket price for an electric car doesn't help. A Nissan Leaf costs about $21,000—and that's after the $7500 government tax incentive. Meanwhile, the similarly sized Nissan Versa costs just $12,000.
Stan Hanel
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