The goal of shows like Drive Electric is to familiarize more people not only with emissions-free driving, but also with rebates and incentives – not only from automakers but power companies offering solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy – that can bring down the cost of traditionally expensive electric vehicles, according to the show’s organizer Gopal Shanker.
“What we are trying to do is make sure that anyone who can afford to can do it,” said Shanker, president of the Récolte Energy renewable energy consultancy in Napa. “… It’s not just for wealthy people; if you pay $4.50 or $5 a gallon for gas, you should consider an EV, a used one if available, and with subsidies if you can use those benefits.”
Napa residents, including students, showed off hand-crafted electric cars at Napa Valley College Sunday.
Besides the range of electric sedans and SUVs shown by participants, the Napa exhibition allowed visitors to try out electric bicycles and peruse by far the show’s largest entry – one of the three yellow buses operated since December 2020 by the Vacaville Unified School District. A single charge allows the new-style school buses sold by the Lion Electric Co. of Quebec to run for up to 100 miles, according to sales manager John Vaughn.
Not all of Drive Electric’s entries on Sunday were factory new, or even pre-owned like an early Nissan Leaf.
David Heacock’s vehicle stood out from the others by its sheer age – a two-door Avanti first sold in 1962 by the long-defunct Studebaker firm, then by various successors for more than four decades. But its gleaming-white skin now concealed a three-phase motor and 96 lithium-ion cells that occupied the nose and the space where the rear seat had once been.