To our BIEVA members – thank you for all that you do to help us with our mission.  EV ownership in Hawaii is growing and this is due to increasing awareness about the benefits of EVs – total cost of ownership, driving experience, and environmental impact. As reported before, we now have close to 230 EVs on the Big Island. This is still a tiny percentage of the vehicles on our roads but we’re seeing more LEAFs, Teslas, Soul EVs, Volts, i3s, and others as we drive our roads. State-wide, we’ve crossed the 5000 threshold. A recent HELCO press release highlighted our state’s progress toward sustainable transportation adoption: “Hawaii ranks second in the nation behind California in the number of EVs registered per thousand people.”

Consumer awareness is achieved in many ways but one of the more effective means is ‘word-of-mouth’.  By each of us taking a moment to answer questions about EVs, showing our vehicles, advertising that we’re ‘kicking gas’, demonstrating how we can ‘run on sun’, and showing how EV ownership is achievable on our island, we spark interest and even move others off-the-fence. A great example hit close to home for me – a neighbor of ours, someone who’s attended our Drive Electric Week events, recently purchased two EVs to replace their gas vehicles and installed a PV system. He was inspired by our examples and the knowledge that he gained from interacting with members of our association. We are making a difference!

As we wrap up 2016, I’d like to thank you for your contributions to the BIEVA and our mission, for showing up and contributing your time and talent at our Drive Electric Week events in Hilo and Kona, and meet-ups, for representing our group in various community events, for assisting with efforts to expand our charging infrastructure, and for helping others in our community ‘kick gas’.

As we round the corner into 2017, expect more activities and increased outreach. If you have ideas and would like to volunteer, please let us know (click Contact at the top of this page). We’re a volunteer organization – meet-up activities, charging station testing and monitoring, Plugshare updates, ‘lobbying’ and encouraging EV dealers, website maintenance, meeting with business and government leaders, and social media posts, etc… – are all done in our spare time. With added support, we will be able to do more.

Happy Holidays and New Year!

– Noel (on behalf of the BIEVA Leadership)

PS – Here’s our version of the Tesla Model X Holiday Easter Egg show: