California Center for Sustainable Energy

Last Saturday, the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project Workshop Tour visited our neighbors in the Inland Empire.  Riverside City Hall hosted the over 60 attendees and made the perfect setting for both the workshop presentations and electric vehicle displays outside.  We were lucky to have Mayor Ron Loveridge offer opening remarks to the workshop, illustrating Riverside’s already solid commitment to electric vehicles.  In fact, residents of Riverside can take advantage of an extra $2,000 (soon to be $2,500) rebate when they make the switch to a clean vehicle.  Combined with the up to $2,500 state rebate through the CVRP, a Federal tax credit of up to $7,500, and HOV-lane access, that means Riverside locals can receive big savings in electric vehicles.

Colin Santulli of CCSE covered all of these incentives with his overview of plug-in electric vehicle ( PEV) basics, and Ryan Bullard from Riverside Public Utilities followed with information about PEV impacts to utility bills and the grid; both presentations can be found below.  The Drivers Panel, comprised of local Riverside PEV drivers, offered insight into everyday life as a PEV owner, including motivations for making the switch to a clean vehicle.  One of our favorite remarks was a Drivers Panelist’s attempt to find a negative aspect of driving her Nissan LEAF: “I guess the only thing I don’t like about it are the cupholders.”

Once outside, workshop attendees were met by two Chevrolet Volts, two BMW Active-E’s, a Nissan LEAF, a Mitsubishi i-MiEV, and two Toyota Prius Plug-Ins.  Vehicles were available for both static display and test drives, and attendees took full advantage of experiencing both.  At the end of the day, everyone left with a better understanding and appreciation of the variety of electric vehicles available to consumers.

Event Slideshow

There is one more stop on the Workshop Tour, so tell your friends and family in Pasadena that the CVRP is coming to town!  In addition to a workshop, Pasadena City Hall is hosting an EV Street Fair open to the public.  Stop by and check it out on Saturday or register for the workshop at www.energycenter.org/cvrp-events.