Drive Electric Earth Month
Memphis EVs in the House!
Memphis, TN
Apr 23, 2022

Event Report

Final Event Summary Report to Plug In America

Memphis EVs in the House

Memphis, Tennessee

2002 Drive Electric Earth Day

April 25, 2022

Location

Held at Shelby Farms Park (the Park) in Memphis, Tennessee on Saturday, April 24, 2022, from 9 A.M. until after 4 P.M., dubbed Memphis EVs in the House was a big success. The Park is a public park located just east of the city of Memphis. It is one of the twenty largest urban parks in America with 4,500 acres, in comparison covering more than five times the area of Central Park’s 843 acres in New York City. The designated route was pre-planned along with the Park’s staff and provided a safe and effective circuit for conducting the ride and drive event.

The Park has a ten-stall, solar powered free EV charging station that served as the center space for our DEED event. With the Park’s staff permission, we were able to reserve 20+ parking space immediately adjacent for park-and-ride exclusive use, thereby improving the impact of the event.

Impact and Diversity

Notwithstanding significant competition from the Memphis International

Auto Show, back from a two-year hiatus yesterday, the energy aware and environmentally committed showed up at a DEED event to help demonstrate the impact of what is possible for each of us featuring both hybrid and battery electric vehicles.

Additionally, the Park is a significant location for free public recreation and was, therefore, a location to help expose many people to EVs and the story of the twin impacts on energy production and the reduction of environmental degradation.

Despite a steady wind of nearly 20 mph that gusted to 35 mph and a temperature that peaked at 87 degrees and humidity that at times was 55 percent, most of the entire band of hearty volunteers were present for the entire event from 9 A.M. until 4 P.M.

All signage and collateral materials were appropriately branded with the required PIA-furnished branding assets, including the DEED logo.

Locally produced and sourced food was provided as an enticement for ride and drive participants. Further, a food truck owned and operated by a local Hispanic

entrepreneur was integrated into the DEED setting.

An appropriate canopy, custom produced banners, tables and traffic cones were used to enhance the setting.

The City of Memphis has an approximate population of one million and is the center of a three state (western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and northern Mississippi) metropolitan region of approximately 2.4 million. The racial makeup is 66% African American in Memphis and nearly 50% in the metro area. A 2021 study by the City of Memphis revealed 30% of Memphis residents live below the poverty line yielding a rank of #2 in America behind only Detroit, Michigan.

Therefore, all outreach efforts had a deliberate multi-racial impact at all socio-economic levels, genders, both urban and rural.

Our advertising outreach approach was multi-media. A high impact, live television interview at the site two days in advance was conducted. Announcements were fed and placed on social media and appropriate websites steadily over the past two weeks. A highly targeted direct mail campaign was used in the four weeks leading up to the event with weekly news release USPS mailed and emailed to all area media and elected officials in the metropolitan area, plus other thought leaders and managers in the energy community. (Copies attached, along with categorized quantities). Further, specific outreach to the Hispanic community (7.4% of the population -- US Census Bureau 2021 estimate) was achieved using paid advertising on a local Spanish-language radio station.

The estimated number of attendees was 100-125, the tally of the number of rides was relatively small, as was the drives per vehicle. However, notably, the Mayor of Shelby County, Lee Harris, did attend and was given a ride in City Captain Joe Ozegovich’s Tesla model S. 

To facilitate the pre and post surveys reporting, QR codes were created to assist attendees.

The participating vehicles included a Rivian R1T pickup truck and over twenty other EVs ranging from the Tesla Models 3, Y, S, and, X, a Chevrolet Volt, Hyundai Ioniq5, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Polestar 2, and a late-arriving BMW I8.

Grant expenditures, planned vs. actual, with variances described are contained in the attached spreadsheet.

Respectfully submitted,

Phil Zeni, Sr.

Grantee

photo by: Wes Hicks None

Event Description

Registered Attendees

There are currently 72 attendees registered.

Owners of These Vehicles Have Registered To Attend

Registered attendees report 949,972 electric miles driven.