The Future of EVs in Hawaii Webinar
Our October 3rd webinar was a success. We kicked off our event by announcing proclamations by our governor and 3 county mayors, an introduction of Hawaii EV, its mission, and it's leadership team. We shared a video of the various EV form factors. We then transitioned to our panel discussion. This webinar focused on the barriers to the electrification/decarbonization of transportation and what's being done locally to address them. Our speakers covered a broad range of topic areas. Our panel included:
Lauren Reichelt - Clean Transportation Director, Blue Planet Foundation. She discussed strategies being used to reduce vehicle miles traveled.
Aki Marceau - Director of Electrification of Transportation, Hawaiian Electric. She discussed the role of the utility in the electrification of transportation and Hawaiian Electric's upcoming programs, including their electric bus charging infrastructure initiative.
Beth Tokioka - Communications Manager, Kauai Island Utility Cooperative. She discussed the EV trends in Kauai and the role of the energy cooperative that operates in that county.
Riley Saito - Deputy Director, Hawaii County Research and Development. He shared the various Hawaii Island County strategies for the expansion of the electric car (battery and fuel-cell) charging infrastructure and the electrification of the county fleet.
Melissa Miyashiro - Managing Director, Strategy and Policy, Blue Planet Foundation. She discussed the role of policy in enabling the changes that are needed for the decarbonization of our economy.
Rep. Nicole Lowen - Hawaii State Representative, District 6, House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection. She discussed the relevant bills and priorities in the 2021 session.
Sen. Russell Ruderman - Hawai’i State Senator, District 2. He discussed the importance of civic action and the role of citizens in effecting change. He offered insight into how to effectively engage with legislators and staff and how to track and provide testimony on legislation.
The panel discussion included a break where we shared a YouTube video on a school in Sacramento, California that has adopted electric school buses. Our discussion was followed by a Q&A session. We announced a couple of prize winners before concluding the event..
Here’s the presentation deck that was shared at a our webinar.
Here’s a recording of our two-hour webinar. Here are time stamps, in case you’d like to review certain segments.
EV Form Factors Video Start - 4:26
Panel Discussion Start - 6:34
Lauren Reichelt - 11:08
Aki Marceau - 24:09
Beth Tokioka - 35:50
Riley Saito - 48:59
Melissa Miyashiro - 1:06:33
Rep. Nicole Lowen - 1:20:28
Sen. Russell Ruderman - 1:33:26
Many thanks to Kauai EV, Big Island EV Association, Tesla Hawaii Club, Blue Planet Foundation, Drive Electric Hawaii, Plug In America, Sierra Club, Electric Auto Association, and Electrify America for making this event possible.
Special thanks to our speakers - Lauren Reichelt, Aki Marceau, Beth Tokioka, Riley Saito, Melissa Miyashiro, Rep. Nicole Lowen, and Sen. Russell Ruderman - for their informative presentations.
