With California’s goal to sell 250,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2016 in mind, the California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative (PEV Collaborative) and AT&T California recently hosted the DRIVE THE DREAM Ride-&-Drive Summer Celebration event.
The recent event — the first of a series of test-drive events in the state that PEV Collaborative is working on — gave hundreds of AT&T employees in California the opportunity to test drive various (around 2 dozen) popular electric vehicles (EVs) for the first time.
The event also served as a way of educating those attending about available state and federal incentives, and employer discounts.
“The future depends on the well-being of our planet,” stated Ken McNeely, president, AT&T California. “AT&T is committed to reducing our own carbon footprint — improving the efficiency of our network and making our own fleet more fuel and carbon efficient. Now, we are asking our employees to help make a difference in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the good of our state.”
The press release provides more:
During the kick-off event, McNeely asked all 36,000 AT&T employees statewide to consider an electric vehicle when purchasing their next personal car and encouraged them to take advantage of the employee discounts programs offered by AT&T, where employees can save an average of $3,279 off the MSRP on select vehicles. McNeely also announced that the company is evaluating options to increase the number of EV charging stations for California employees.
…The DRIVE THE DREAM Ride-and-Drive Summer Celebration event hosted by AT&T California was a high-energy event featuring ice cream, music and the latest electric cars from several major automakers. Hundreds of employees attended the event to speak with automakers, charging station manufacturers and PEV Collaborative partners, providing information about plug-in vehicles and incentive programs available to encourage purchases.
“With the support and leadership from companies like AT&T and our other collaborative partners, we can become the first state to achieve a quarter-million plug-in vehicles,” commented California PEV Collaborative Executive Director Christine Kehoe. “Combined federal and state incentives, California EV consumers can save up to an additional $10,000 per electric vehicle purchased. All these efforts help reach Californians with the benefits of plug-in vehicles to help achieve this goal.”
Further such events at other major regional employers are now in the works.