It's National Drive Electric Week, and today in South Lake Tahoe, there's a forum to talk about electric transportation in and around Lake Tahoe.
"At the end of the day, the impetus and motivation for doing our event is to protect Lake Tahoe from pollution for the next generations," said organizer Kevin McGehee. "With Lake Tahoe, you have two states involved, five counties, everybody wants a say in how things go. So what we're really trying to do is pull the diversity of that into a more collegial environment where we can collaborate and cooperate and develop some ideas and solutions to problems."
This is the first of what organizers hope to be an annual event to showcase the benefits of using clean energy, both environmental and financial.
"We've got a tremendous amount of financial incentives now available through the Inflation Reduction Act," said organizer Tom Polikalas. "We just need to get the folks that are interested in electric transportation to know what the advantages are in tax credits, grants for cities, tax credits for private businesses, and for private sector folks who want to get an electric car of any kind. So there's huge opportunities; this is the intersection of technology with financial opportunity."
And that technology will be on display, from the latest in electric cars and boats, to ferries and buses that are using hydrogen fuel cell technology. RTC Washoe has two hydrogen fuel cell buses on the way.
"With hydrogen fuel cell buses, they're still electric buses, the difference is the hydrogen fuel cells charge the buses while they drive, so you'll get about 300 miles instead of 100," said Paul Nelson, Government Affairs Officer with RTC Washoe. "And with electric, at the end of the day you have to take it back charge it, that usually takes three or four hours. With these, you don't have to do that, it doesn't take them out of service."
This is an event organizers hope to grow in coming years.
"Lake Tahoe is one of the most desirable places in the world where you can have an event like this," McGehee said. "There are unique problems relative to electric vehicles here so we want to be able to address those issues and start solving problems at the lake."
The forum starts at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 29.
The in-person forum is sold out but you can register to attend via Zoom here: https://electrifytahoetransportation.org/
