This year is the 10th anniversary of National Drive Electric Week (NDEW). At the beginning of the year, we were planning to make this a blowout year with more events than ever—recognizing the continued growth in the market, the exciting new models coming out, and honoring the EV activists who got us here. But, like it has with nearly everything else in our world, COVID got in the way of the NDEW that we were planning for.
So we have had to make some adjustments. Like so much in our society that has been turned upside down by COVID—schools, restaurants, doctor appointments, yoga classes—we’ve had to figure out how to keep the essence of what is important while doing it safely. To me, that essence includes three important things: celebrating EVs; directly experiencing EV driving; and learning about EVs straight from the mouths of the EV drivers. We’ve tried to be true to these things as much as we can while keeping safety as our absolute first priority.
We also wanted to keep control over individual events in the hands of city captains and their volunteers. Local engagement and excitement around events are the great strengths of NDEW and we want to be sure that continues. Individual city captains, with guidance from their state and local health authorities, are the best ones to determine whether an in-person event can be safely conducted.
NDEW this year will be a hybrid of online and in-person activities. We are planning a variety of online activities that are open to everyone, such as:
- Our national kick-off online event on September 24;
- Regionally-focused online events hosted by city captains around the country;
- Topic-specific online events on specific issues of interest to EV drivers.
While some of these events are on the website now, many more will be added over the coming weeks. We are excited about these new elements in NDEW and anticipate that some of them may continue in future years.
In locations where it is possible to do so safely and in full compliance with local and state health requirements, we will still have in-person events. These events will follow strict safety guidelines, based on best practices from the Centers for Disease Control. Plan on bringing your mask and practicing social distancing at events, which will be held outdoors. If an event is offering test drives, they will only be possible with people from one household in the car at a time and cars will be sanitized between test drives.
You can see events that are currently planned on the NDEW website. New events are still being added. Some currently planned events may be canceled, postponed, or shifted online, depending on developments with COVID and changes in local health requirements, so you should check back regularly for any changes with your local events.
We appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm for NDEW. The good news is that our commitment to driving electric is undiminished. The electric revolution is still coming and a slew of new EVs are still planned for the coming year. (They’ve just been delayed a few months).
Have a great National Drive Electric Week!
