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Eric Cardwell’s roots in EVs dates back to 2001 when as an engineering student at the Univ. of TN at Knoxville got involved in the “Future Truck” and won awards in Telematics. He was hooked on EVs since then! In 2007 while working in Washington DC he joined the Greater Washington DC EV Association and got involved in local Ride & Drives. He became Vice President of that organization in 2011 and helped grow the activities of the organization during his tenure. He moved back to Knoxville in 2014 and didn’t have a car at the time yet needed one… and bought his first PEV – a 2013 Chevy Volt (shown at left). He joined KEVA that fall and has been involved ever since. Eric became the President of KEVA in January 2020 and looks forward to spreading the gospel of EVs as far and wide as possible!
Susan Goodwin never had a big interest in cars. Until a friend took her for a parking lot ride in her 2014 Tesla Model S. “I had zero interest in cars until I found out that EVs had zero emissions.” She heard Tesla had Model 3 coming out for the masses. On March 27, 2016, there was a small newspaper article announcing that Tesla would be taking reservations for the new, less expensive, as yet unseen, Model 3. Susan insisted that she and her skeptical husband, Jack, be at the Tesla showroom in Brentwood, TN, before it opened on March 31, 2016, to be one of the first to place a reservation for a M3. 26½ months later, in May 2018, she took delivery on her Tesla – one of the first Model 3s in this area. Three weeks after that, she and Jack joined KEVA. Since then, Susan’s been very active, especially as Event Coordinator for National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) and for Drive Electric Earth Day. Her encouragement led KEVA to present a full day of webinars for NDEW 2020, gaining recognition for KEVA through inclusion in the national NDEW Catalog. (BTW, if you’re thinking of buying a Tesla, you can get an incentive by using someone’s Tesla referral number. Here’s Susan’s if you want to get that incentive: https://ts.la/susan14629)
Gary Bulmer is a retired Captain of the NOAA Commissioned Corps. He was a founding member of KEVA in 2009. In 2011 he put an EV conversion on the road. It was a kit car, a Blakely Bernardi, and with the help of Gill Welding he did a complete rebuild of the car and made it into a BEV. He drove it for 8 years and recently sold it. He is now the proud owner of a 2018 Nissan Leaf. It is a very fun car to drive. He does care about the environment and sustainability, but his primary motive for supporting EVs is to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. They are also more fun to drive than ICE cars.
Mark Bishop first drove a ‘City Car’ in the 1970’s. Though it was crude by today’s standards, he was enlightened that electric drive was possible. Later he rode a 2008 Vectrix scooter (one of which he now owns), and then drove a Tesla Roadster. Mark was inspired to convert a 1959 Morris Minor to electric drive for his brother, and converted a 2000 Honda Insight for himself. His wife purchased a 2014 Tesla Model S, and later, Mark purchased a 2018 Tesla Model 3. He and his wife have a photovoltaic array that provides sufficient energy for their home and transportation. Mark is an active member of KEVA.
Robert Cole got his first EV, a Tesla Model 3, in 2019 after researching and weighing options for a couple of years. Due to COVID and selling the other family car due to non-use, Robert now is EV-only and loving it. In his free time, Robert enjoys traveling and camping, which has been easy to do in the Tesla with the amount of storage he can make use of. He joined KEVA and local Tesla groups and increased his involvement in the EV community shortly after that, and has been working with the local community to increase adoption of EV’s in urban areas as a Downtown resident and stakeholder.
Like most guys, Jack Goodwin had an interest in cars since high school, just not the money to buy the ones he really admired. He thought his wife, Susan, was crazy when she told him that they were going to Nashville early on March 31, 2016, to reserve a Tesla Model 3. He still thought she was crazy when they got back. But after she got her car, she graciously let him drive it once or twice a week. By November, Jack realized that he had to abandon his ICE car in favor of a Tesla. So, with Susan’s consent, he ordered his own M3. He took delivery 10 days later. (Part privilege of being a Tesla owner already, and part faster production by Tesla.) As a referral from Susan, Jack got 6 months free Supercharging, so in May 2019, Jack and Susan took his car on an 18 day trip to Yellowstone National Park and other points of interest. Their out-of-pocket energy expense for the trip – $5. You can read about that trip here: http://www.fuelsfix.com/2020/03/susans/.
Dave has been plugging in for over 12 years now, and has logged more than 145,000 gas free miles and powers his home and vehicles via rooftop solar. In the past he has owned and driven a Tesla Roadster and Chevy Volt, as well as Toyota Prius and Avalanche plug-in conversions. Dave is one of the (if not the) longest-standing EV-driving member of KEVA who has participated in many events throughout East Tennessee educating citizens about EVs.
I’ve been interested in the technology of electric vehicles for years and amazed at the variety of vehicles that are coming on the market now. After some investigating of the EV options that are out now, I pulled the trigger on a Kia Niro EV that I am thoroughly enjoying!
Gary has always been into cars and technology. Usually, it involved making them go faster, do more, and upgrading them in one way or another. Having driven everything from classic pickups to supercharged specialty cars, deciding to buy an EV was a big change but it combined his two passions, cars and tech. Driving a Tesla for the first time eliminated any hesitations he had. In the first year of EV ownership, he put over 30,000 miles on his car and has not regretted a single mile.
Since then, he has done what he can to share information, show people how easy it is to live with an EV as your main type of transportation and what the actual cost of operating one is. He joined KEVA right after buying his car and has attended many events with them since.
Jake has been interested in electric vehicles for years but just didn’t know where to begin. Then in 2019 he jumped into the electric scene switching his lawn mower to an electric one. He followed shortly with a weed trimmer, leaf blower and chainsaw. The power they had, not having to winterize or get ready the next season, and never having to go to the gas station for gas had him hooked. After seeing a Zero on a Television program in 2016, he thought it would be neat to have one, one day. That “one day” really started to get to him and he started saving money. After years of riding a very loud ICE motorcycle he thought it was a change for something quieter and less maintenance. Then in November 2019 he started really actively researching electric motorcycles and seeing the pros and cons of each one. He studied and watched nearly every English speaking video on YouTube he had finally decided on a Zero SR/F. Right before he was ready to test ride and order one Zero announced their new 2020 SR/S model. The larger passenger seat and better ergonomics was a no brainer to upgrade to. Now he is enjoying driving electric more than he thought he would and loves to answer questions about it and what it can do. He currently has an electric pickup on pre-order. He joined KEVA after Mark Bishop invited him to attend a monthly meeting. KEVA is a great place to learn about EVs from actual drivers. You just cant find this information online and the fellowship with the members he looks forward to every month.
Jonathan Overly started the East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition in 2001 and has been a collaborator with KEVA for many years. “The members of KEVA are some of the most fun people to work with, and also do a great job of helping citizens better understand all the various elements of driving electric.” As the Drive Electric TN initiative continues growing, Overly is using some of the collaborations that KEVA and ETCF have built in past years as examples to show other areas of Tennessee who to develop effective Ride & Drive planning. He works with multiple partners across the state to bring new DCFC and Level 2 chargers to Tennessee, and works with TDOT and partners over the last five years to get Tennessee’s interstates designated as “corridor-ready” for EVs to enable signage that will tell drivers “this is an electric vehicle corridor.” Overly drove a 2011 Nissan Leaf for three years “back in the early days” but acquired a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range in June 2021. It is wrapped in an iridescent 3M wrap called “Satin Flip Volcanic Flare”.
Justin and Jenn purchased their first EV in Aug 2021 – a Kia Niro EV – after shopping the market in search of a hybrid. After test driving several hybrids, they fell in love with the power of the Niro EV. Never ones to really consider themselves EV enthusiasts, they love showing off their Niro as an alternative to the “typical” cars most people think of when they hear electric. They love taking very quiet drives through the Smokies and enjoying the views gas and idle free, often coming out of the mountains with more charge than going in.
Ken Wilson said he would “own an electric car some day” when the Toyota Prius was coming on the scene in 2002. He and his wife, Joann, bought a used Prius in 2004 and another a few years later. The two 2003 models were identical except for the CD players. By driving the hybrids until 2017 and 2018, the cars saved more money than the total purchases in reduced fuel costs. Then the vehicles were sold for a net profit. Confident in the reliability and economics, the couple now drives two 2017 Prius Prime plug-in hybrids. Since installing solar PV on their home in 2019, they are driving on sunshine. Well, at least partially, and they are looking forward to having fully electric transportation in the future.
Marty Young was driving a 2001 Ford Taurus with 270,000 miles on the odometer when he decided it was finally time for a change. “I obviously wanted something newer, but I also wanted something fundamentally more advanced. I quickly realized that all the new gas cars out there were really nothing more than the same old dirty technology in a shiny new wrapper.” He researched EVs and decided on a 2016 Chevy Volt that he purchased at CarMax in January 2019. He loves the car and says he even has an unhealthy emotional attachment to it. “I still smile every time I see it. I love the acceleration. No, it’s not as fast as a Tesla, but from 0-30 it’s a blast. I tell people that I don’t exceed the speed limit…I just get to it really quickly.” The Volt has an all-electric range of 53 miles plus a gas engine that can power the car for another 370 miles. “My round-trip commute is a total of 45 miles, so unless I go out of town, I don’t use gas. The first year I owned the car I put 16,000 miles on it. 14,000 of those miles were pure electric.” He joined KEVA shortly after purchasing his Volt and loves participating in ride-and-drive events. “Being with someone as they experience an EV for the first time just never gets old for me.” (Photo at right is my home charging system).