Electric Vehicles Featured at Earth Day Events Across the Midwest

Earth Day, on April 22, shines the spotlight on the clean-air, environmental, and performance benefits of electric vehicles. Examples include Midwest EVOLVE events taking place in Indiana, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Midwest EVOLVE is a partnership between the American Lung Association and Clean Cities coalitions throughout the Midwest. The project emphasizes the clean-air advantages, cost-savings and performance of plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles. Midwest EVOLVE partners are holding more than a dozen events throughout the Midwest surrounding this year’s Earth Day.

“Each year, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970,” said Lew Bartfield, executive vice president of the American Lung Association for the Upper Midwest Region. “Many experts have called this ‘the year of the electric car,’ and Earth Day is proof with electric vehicles being showcased at Earth Day events around the world, including community events in the Midwest.

“Until recently, most of the attention for electric vehicles has been on the East and West Coasts,” Bartfield said. “Thanks in part to exposure at Midwest EVOLVE events, Midwestern consumers are now taking a serious look at electric vehicles. Many are getting behind the wheel of EVs for the first time, experiencing their outstanding performance and realizing that these vehicles fit their daily driving needs.”

More than 50,000 people have participated in Midwest EVOLVE events since the project launched in early 2017. Midwest EVOLVE, which stands for Electric Vehicle Opportunities: Learning, eVents, Experience, has 60-plus partners, including Argonne National Laboratory, PlugInConnect, automakers, utilities, state agencies, municipalities, dealerships, and dealer associations.

Upcoming electric vehicle events hosted by Midwest EVOLVE and its partners include:

Minnesota

• Rochester EarthFest Expo, Saturday, April 21, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Midwest EVOLVE partner Fresh Energy will have an educational display and an electric vehicle ride and drive. RCTC Field House, Ucr Pkwy SE, Rochester, MN 55904.
• 2018 Lyndale Green Expo, Saturday, April 21, 1-4 p.m. Electric vehicles will be on display. Lyndale Community School, 312 W 34th St, Minneapolis, MN 55408.
• Sustainable Stillwater EV Show, Sunday, April 22, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EVs on display. Trinity Lutheran Church, 115 4th St N, Stillwater, MN 55082.
• Electric Cars and You! Sunday April 22, 3-5 p.m. EV ride and drive. 7700 France Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55435-5228.
• 2018 Spring “Travel Electric” Vehicle Ride & Drive + Show, April 27-29; EV show is Friday through Sunday during mall hours and ride and drive is Saturday, April 28, 10 a.m.-2 pm. Midwest EVOLVE partner Connexus Energy and local dealerships will have an educational display and an electric vehicle ride and drive. Northtown Mall Field House, 398 Northtown Dr. NE, Blaine, MN 55434.

Ohio

• Ohio Environmental Council Reception, Thursday, April 19, 6-8 p.m. Clean Fuels Ohio highlights the benefits of EVs and how the auto industry and transportation affects the climate. Held at Speak of the Devil, 201W 5th St, Lorain, OH 44052.
• Electric Vehicles at the Cleveland Zoo - Party for the Planet, Saturday, April 21, 2018, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Electric vehicles will be showcased at the program, held at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, 3900 Wildlife Way, Cleveland, OH 44109.
• Drive Electric Cincy's Earth Day Ride & Drive, Saturday, April 21, 12 to 4 p.m. EVs available for test drives at Summit Park, McKinley Rd, Blue Ash, OH 45242.
• Earth Day Ride & Drive, Sunday, April 22, 12 to 4 p.m. EV Test-Drives hosted by Clean Fuels Ohio and Drive Electric Ohio, as a part of the Green Columbus Earth Day Celebration. Genoa Park, 303 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43215.
• Earth Day Electric Vehicle Ride & Drive in Dayton, Ohio, Sunday, April 22, from 2-5 p.m. Drive Electric Dayton is hosting test drives at the parking lot between Oakwood High School and Mack Hummon Field on Schantz Avenue.

Northern Indiana

• Northwest Indiana Earth Day Celebration 2018, Saturday April 21, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be electric and alternative-fuel vehicles on display. Porter County Expo Center, 215 E. Division Rd., Valparaiso, IN 46383.
• The Michiana Area Council of Governments (MACOG) is hosting the Partners for Clean Air Award Luncheon, Friday, April 25. South Shore Clean Cities will hold a Midwest EVOLVE Ride and Drive at the Matterhorn Conference Center, 2041 Cassopolis St, Elkhart, IN 46514.

Midwest EVOLVE and its partners are hosting more than 200 events, large and small, over a three-year period, in brand-neutral settings to give Midwestern drivers an opportunity to get behind the wheel of electric vehicles.

At Midwest EVOLVE events, consumers, government officials, fleet administrators and dealership personnel have an opportunity to learn about the performance and environmental benefits of plug-in vehicles, and about options for charging their vehicle.

Midwest EVOLVE is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), under Award Number DE-EE0007743. To learn more, visit http://www.midwestevolve.org or follow EVOLVE on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.