The first 4 months of 2015 have seen changes in EV range. What was 80 to 100 miles per charge (except a Tesla) now looks like in a few short years 200 miles will be the norm. At the Detroit Auto Show (Deb and I were there) the new Chevy Bolt was shown, a 200 mile range pure EV due out in 2 years. There is no reason to doubt GM. The ACDC Leaf is getting lots of use and everyone in our office loves it. Level III fast chargers are everywhere in Massachusetts, so with a little planning, this is now a long distance car. Have you thought about a charger at your shop or school? Check with your state, as Massachusetts has state funds to pay for the charger, so your state may as well.
Some in this group went swimming at UYV. Ocean water was 37 F.
This month (May) we are hosting a 3 day intensive workshop in Worcester, Massachusetts with the focus on one car, the Prius. We just added a 2010 Prius (Gen III) to the ACDC Fleet bringing the total to 9 registered EMV and many more hybrids that are duplicates of the road ready ones. My hands are getting dirty and I love it.
Last month (April) our interns from the Netherlands, Jelmer and Chris, finished their stay and flew home. This was such a great partnership. Two more interns land in Boston May 4. Deb and I started April by spending time at the NYC Auto Show, then SAE Congress in Detroit, Automechanika in Chicago and a Hybrid Train-the-Trainer at Mott College in Flint, Michigan. All that and held a sold out “Up Your Voltage” class, #39, somewhere in the middle. Of our eighteen students, nine of them were from outside the United States. (Next month we host our fourth week long training for the Dutch government hosting Dutch teachers in Massachusetts.) It was our most international class ever, four countries represented plus our stateside students. I never dreamed that ACDC would be a leader in sharing EMV information with the world. We are a resource to every country that has embraced this new technology.
All of the ACDC trainers passed the ASE L3 test (I assume you expected that) and our L3 preparation guide book is our best selling product this year. Have you taken the ASE Hybrid test yet?
The EMV owners today are well informed and even low gas prices in America have little impact on sales. It is not a question as to “will electric cars sell in big numbers”, the question is when. Are you prepared when they do?
