Test drive your favorite EVs at Drive Electric Week starting today through October 2

Drive Electric Week kicks off today with nearly 300 online and in-person events celebrating electric vehicles. Events will be held for the next two weekends, from September 23 through October 2, in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Drive Electric Week is an annual event organized by Plug In America, Electric Auto Association, EVHybridNoire, and Sierra Club. This is the event’s 12th year. It started in the US as National Drive Electric Week, but for the last few years, events have been hosted in various other parts of the globe as well.

These events are an opportunity for prospective EV buyers to talk directly with EV owners about the experience of owning an electric car. The dealership experience is not ideal for a lot of EV shoppers, so unfiltered conversations with EV owners can be a great way to learn.

Events are organized by local EV advocates and range in size from small parking lot meetups and local EV parades to large festivals with lots of booths from car dealers and green businesses. Although, this year, some dealers might be less enthusiastic about remote sales events due to ongoing vehicle shortages caused by the pandemic-related global chip shortage. Be sure to check each individual event page to see if there’s any information on what cars might be available for test drives.

Drive Electric Week has a map and list of events this week, including designations for online and in-person events, or search for events near you.

For the last couple of years, Drive Electric Week has been a little subdued due to the global COVID pandemic. In 2020 all events were shifted to online, with in-person events returning in 2021. Most events are outdoors, and attendees were encouraged to follow COVID guidelines.

2022 continues in the same vein – there are some events online, but most in-person events are back this year. While there are no unified COVID requirements across all events and most will be outdoors anyway, attendees should take steps to reduce COVID spread as appropriate.

Online events include seminars and interviews with experts discussing various aspects of EVs along with virtual test drives of cars. There will be seminars on charging, V2X and V2G, upcoming EVs, solar EV charging, and other general introductory programs. There are also a number of events discussing local EV issues – like in Hawaii, Michigan, and Rhode Island.

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