DIY electric vehicles on display in front of Outdoor Knoxville after the East Tn USGBC program. These classic cars were converted to run on electricity by members of Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association.
Last month our education event featured a discussion on different types of electric vehicles (EVs) including cars, bicycles, and the infrastructure they depend on.
Jake Tisinger with the City of Knoxville Office of Sustainability spoke about EV charging stations that have been installed in the city, how they work, and what kind of data will be collected during the two year period of the Department of Energy grant. We learned about charging times, and charging station types, and just how inexpensive it is charge an electric car. The answer is: very!
Casey Langford, a Ph.D. candidate in Civil Engineering, introduced us to the “e-bike” sharing research program he and fellow graduate student Shugugng Ji are working on at the UT campus. The cycleUshare Program is the nation’s first automated electric bicycle sharing program featuring two bike sharing stations, one of which is fully solar powered! The system rents bikes for free to UT id holders, and collects data on trip duration and frequency as well as comparing the use of “e-bikes” versus regular bikes.
Our last speaker, Leslie Grossman, director of the Knoxville Electric Vehicle Association, shared her story of how she, a staunch conservative, became an electric vehicle advocate after seeing Who Killed the Electric Car. She is now a proud owner of an electric Jeep. Wait a minute, GM doesn’t make electric Jeeps, you may say. BUT, if you have a Jeep with a busted engine, some batteries, and some other ingredients; you can make one yourself in your garage! Her story was truly amazing.
