Drive Electric Earth Month
Victoria, BC
Apr 22, 2019
Victoria, BC
Apr 22, 2019
Day: | Monday, April 22, 2019 NOTE: this event has already happened, find current-year events on the Attend page. |
Time: | 12:00 pm - 2:30 |
Location: | Downtown Victoria to Sidney by the Sea Burdett Avenueat at Quadra Street (starting location) Mary Winspeare Centre (destination) Victoria, BC V8V 3G8 |
Event Report
The Carbon-free Carpool, Shuttle service and Potluck Food deliveries covered 7,394 emissions-free person kms of travel over the four hours of the event. This translates to about 3600 carbon-free vehicle kilometres or about .85 metric tons of CO2 emissions avoided! I'm glad I decide to create a spreadsheet to manage the connections in real time!!
Our volunteer drivers were enthusiastic and flexible, coping well with much welcome rain and the last minute changes in the schedule of events.
We are still hearing from the wedding attendees whose travel was provided for by our EVs and to a person, it worked out better for them than they expected!
We've been asked to offer this service for future events. Many volunteer drivers expressed gratitude for the chance to be part of this national reported event and asked to be included in similar actions in the future.
Below is a link to one national TV report that shows part of our assembled fleet in action.
https://globalnews.ca/video/5192607/green-party-leader-elizabeth-may-weds-on-earth-day
photo by: CBC News, Canada Carbon-free Carpool and EarthDay Wedding Motorcade organizer, Gerry Gaydos discussing event details with EV volunteers, Dave and Lil Charles with local EV driver/ EV promotion champion, Jan Ostrowski's Tesla Model S in the foreground. |
Event Description
An EarthDay Wedding EV Motorcade: This will be a local scenic road trip from downtown Victoria up the Saanich Peninsula to Sidney by the Sea. We are rallying our DriveElectricVictoria Volunteers to support a national enviro-hero on a special day.
This event will be in service of a wedding celebration for a well known long-time Canadian environmental champion. Our logistical support is offered as a community gift to her, and her new husband as a tribute to her for all she has done in service of co-creating a better world for us and future generations, and to him for bringing such joy to her life with his character and loving wisdom.
This celebrated Canadian couple will remain unnamed until the week of the event, in order to preserve their privacy.
Our "banner-free" EV Motorcade will not include identification of participating organizations or clubs, their signs or flags. We will simply show up at the church after the ceremony to shuttle between 80 and 120 wedding guests to the reception hall without a whiff of emissions, speechifying or self-promotion! Though there might be some singing and music among the 35 to 50 EVs in attendance.
The presence of national and local media organizations on site for this event means we need to ask our volunteers to demonstrate dignity, courtesy and an attitude of service, silently focusing on our guests rather than trumpeting the virtues of EV life or sharing our own stories. The only story that will matter on that day will be the story of our esteemed special guests.
EVs are here, now, as part of the new normal! This is the simple clear message about EVs we hope the media will take away from our presence. Making our EVs available at this EarthDay wedding in solidarity with one of our environmental champions will show how, as we celebrate and work in everyday life, fossil fuel vehicles are no longer the de facto solution.
Our intention is to provide a service, whereby our cars never occupy more space or attention than the guests and are seen as any other reliable appliance. We hope that passersby and guests alike feel like they are witnessing the new normal of post-carbon transportation, without feeling that they are in some way out of the loop for not yet being part of the EV movement. Instead, we hope the presence of this large number of EVs in motion serves as a dynamic invitation for our neighbours and friends to join us.
I'm confident that our cars will speak for themselves, silently, as we model a new way of moving through one of life's more joyful celebrations in service of a national social change hero.
Registered Attendees
There are currently 12 attendees registered.
Owners of These Vehicles Have Registered To Attend
Vehicle | Registered |
---|---|
Tesla Model 3 | 2 |
Tesla Model S | 2 |
Ioniq Electric | 1 |
Nissan Leaf (2018+) | 1 |
Other Plug-In Vehicle | 1 |
Zero Motorcycle | 1 |
6 Models | 8 |
Registered attendees report 78,150 electric miles driven.