Electric Cars on display at Alton Baker Park
EUGENE, Ore. — An expo of electric vehicles were on display at Alton Baker Park Saturday afternoon for people to come by and learn more about the efforts to electrify transportation.
The event held on June 10 was sponsored by the Eugene Water & Electric Board. The City of Eugene also had a hand in organizing the event. Workers from both organizations spoke with visitors about the benefits of driving electric vehicles and even offered people the opportunity to get behind the wheel of one.
“It’s a way to promote electric vehicle transportation, electrification and just get people exposed to these units and get to test drive them,” EWEB representative Juan Serpa Munoz said.
Both EWEB and city representatives spoke with visitors about the benefits of electric vehicles and how they reduce carbon emissions. The Emerald Valley Electric Vehicle Association, a long time advocate of electric transportation, also had a presence at the event.
“In Lane County, 40-50 perfect of the carbon released in Lane County comes from our transportation,” association spokesperson Fred Mallery said. “Our transportation becomes our biggest opportunity to clean up and reduce the carbon in the air.”
People who came by only had to sign up in order to test drive the E-vehicles. Attendees were not forced to buy anything, but EWEB did encourage them to look deeper into electric cars. For people who are still hesitant about electric vehicles EWEB had one message for them.
“I would encourage them to check them out, give them a try, and then they can make their own impression and evaluation,” Serpa Munoz said. “They work in many ways like a regular vehicle, with different pluses to them in many ways, reducing the fuel costs as well.”
Ken Bergstrom was excited to test out an electric vehicle. He said he believed now was the perfect time to shop for one. His interest in them is rooted in what he has heard about their maintenance.
“The maintenance, you know you don’t have to fool around with the maintenance on them,” Bergstrom said. “They tell me they’re pretty much maintenance-free.”
There will be another electric car expo similar to this one, later this year. It will be held in October.