Electric Vehicle Use and Infrastructure Continues to Grow
I was first introduced to the Nissan Leaf by Allterra Solar’s Director of Engineering, Shawn Murphy. The first time Shawn took me for a test drive I was flabbergasted by the acceleration. Granted, as a 2006 Prius driver I am easily impressed; but the Nissan Leaf truly is an impressive engineering feat:
Performance, less costs per mile, and car pool lane access, it is no wonder more and more people in Santa Cruz and Monterey County are buying EVs. In fact here is an excerpt form a recent LA Times article about Nissan Leaf Sales:
The carmaker had a record Leaf sales month in May, boasting 2,138 registrations – a 319% increase over that same month last year. Jones said June was on pace to be another good month. “We have high expectations.”
Infrastructure played a big role in Nissan’s campaign to boost Leaf sales and electric car use on a large scale, Jones said. He cited a three-pronged approach to ensure EV customers could charge when and where they needed: at home, at the workplace, and out in the community.
As more people embrace the future and purchase EVs we will see more charging units at restaurants and shopping centers. EV users can even get home charging units installed at home as part of a solar project. We have received more and more phone calls in 2013 about EV charging units. Electric vehicles really are the future; particularly when you use solar to power them. EV charging units and solar energy systems are getting people back to work, helping reduce carbon emissions, and saving home owners money. Lets keep EV growth going.