Drive Electric Week Hawaii 2021

Oct 9

Hawaii EV Association and associated chapters and Drive Electric Hawaii hosted a couple of webinars to celebrate National Drive Electric Week. COVID-related restrictions did not prevent us from gathering a large group of local leaders, EV advocates, and actual owners. (Virtually, of course.)

Webinar 1 - The State of EVs in Hawaii

Our first webinar - The State of EVs in Hawaii - was held on September 25. It provided us with updates on the general context of sustainable transportation in Hawaii, progress on electrification, the latest on the EV industry, EV charging infrastructure, the electrification of our State fleet, and policy priorities at the State and County levels.

We kicked off our event with a review of the Drive Electric Week proclamations from across the state. This year, each county and the State proclaimed September 24-October 3, 2021 as Drive Electric Week. This was followed by several informative presentations and a Q&A.

The information-rich webinar offered participants with hints of where we are going with our transition toward a clean transportation future. Check out the topics in the video summary below.

Webinar 2 - Will an EV Work for Me?

The second event - Will an EV Work for Me? - was held on October 2. It was designed for the EV-curious or those wondering if their next car should be an electric vehicle. We had presentations and videos on the EV buying and charging experiences and a panel discussion that included owners from across Hawaii.

Each owned had a different charging situation and had valuable tips to share.

We also held a raffle at the end of the second webinar. We picked a participant from each island to win a generous gift of a one-day EV rental from local EV rental companies - Aiona Cars (Big Island), ECO Car Rentals (Maui), Mission Zero (Kauai), and Weedrivetesla (Oahu). Congratulations to our raffle winners: Randy Roe, Rob Washington, Susan Frett, and Rachel Mason!

Mahalo to our generous EV rental companies for their support of our event and for providing a valuable service to our communities and visitors.

Webinar Recordings

The State of EVs in Hawaii

Here are the approximate start times for each segment of our first webinar.

00 - 4:42 - Introduction
4:50 - 2:47 - Decarbonizing Transportation in Hawaii - Kathleen Rooney (Ulupono Initiative)
16:25 - 24:05 - Latest EV Industry Developments - Kianiwai Jones (Blue Planet Foundation)
24:45 - 36:48 - EV Charging Infrastructure - Michael Colón (Hawaiian Electric)
39:50 - 49:30 - State Fleet Electrification - Robin Shishido (Hawaii Department of Transportation)
49:50 - 1:05:47 - State Policy Update - Rep. Nicole Lowen (Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection)
1:06:20 - 1:15:20 - County Policy Update - Councilwoman Heather Kimball (County of Hawaii County Council, District 1)
1:15:50 - Q&A

Will an EV Work for Me?

Start times for each segment:

Introduction and EV 101 - Kianiwai Jones (Blue Planet Foundation
20:14 - Hawaii EV Expert - Steven Ingledue (Cutter Volvo Honolulu)
30:20 - Buying a used EV Video
34:50 - Charging 101 - Nanette Vinton (Hawaii EV, Tesla Hawaii Club)
43:00 - Charging in Hawaii - Tandy Tabata (Hawaiian Electric)
56:40 - Panel Discussion 1:16:00 - Q&A
1:23:00 - Raffle Winners

Noel Morin