Experience all things electric at Walking Mountain’s EV and E-Bike Ride N’ Drive
Walking Mountains/Courtesy Photo
Have you ever wondered what it feels like to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle? Or to get a little boost riding an electric bike around town?
Walking Mountains — in partnership with Clean Energy Economy for the Region and the Climate Action Collaborative — is offering an opportunity for community members to get hands-on experience with EVs and e-bikes at its upcoming Experience Electric event in Eagle.
From an influx of state, federal and local rebates to technology advancements, “there’s never been a better time” to experience electric vehicles and bikes, said Will Barror, the climate action coordinator at Walking Mountains.
“The technology has really caught up to where they’re pretty comparable to an internal combustion engine vehicle. The charging has caught up; you can go to most places. And if you’re looking for a new vehicle, you can save a lot of money both upfront and then on your gas bills. Plus, they’re certainly better for the planet,” Barror said.
Walking Mountains has hosted the free Experience Electric for several years now, and it’s an event that’s grown exponentially since starting, coinciding with the growth in popularity of electric mobility options.
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As the Eagle County Climate Action Collaborative reaches toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, one of its strategies is to increase the adoption of electric vehicles. The collaborative is seeking to increase EV adoption by 2% each year to 2030 and then by 5% leading up to 2050. It is aiming to get 1,100 new EVs on the road each year.
“Hosting EV ride and drives is a great way to get folks familiar with electric vehicles. It’s a great way to have a place for them to ask questions, learn about rebates, and all that good stuff,” Barror said. “What we’re trying to do is once folks get behind the wheel, a lot of people kind of get even more excited about the possibility of owning an electric vehicle and start doing the research about how they can get one for themselves.”
The event will kick off on Sunday, May 19, at 2 p.m. with an Electric Vehicle 101 workshop, followed by opportunities to test ride and drive various types of EVs and e-bikes as well as talk to current owners, ask questions and chat with local organizations about electric mobility.
The goal of the workshop — which will be bilingual with Spanish translation available — is to “take someone who maybe is interested in an electric vehicle but doesn’t know where to begin and really give them all the tools and information that they need in order to potentially purchase an electric vehicle,” Barror said.
The workshop will answer common questions as well as dispel common misconceptions about electric vehicles.
Walking Mountains often hears questions about how to apply for rebates, how to install EV chargers, what one should look for in an EV, what range looks like and more, Barror said. These questions will be answered at the workshop. For anything that is not covered, electric vehicle owners will be available to answer during the ride and drive.
There are two main misconceptions the organization hears. The first and biggest is that electric vehicles are not suitable for mountain environments due to the lack of charging, Barror said.
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“I think we’re slowly busting that misconception or that myth just because more and more folks are purchasing EVs and can share their lived experiences of having them in our mountain communities,” Barror said.
Eagle County, he added, has one of the highest rates of electric vehicle chargers per capita across the country.
The second myth that the organization is hoping to bust is that “electric vehicles are no better for the planet than an internal combustion engine vehicle due to coal or natural gas being used to create the electricity and the environmental impacts of mining for the materials that need to be put into the batteries and that sort of thing,” Barror said.
Walking Mountains as well as representatives from Vail Health, Holy Cross Energy, the Eagle Valley Transit Authority, The Palmer Fund, Mountain Youth, the town of Eagle as well as bike shops, EV charger manufacturers and experts will be onsite to help answer questions.
While individuals must be at least 16 years old to ride the e-bikes and at least 18 years old to drive the vehicles, the event is family-friendly. In addition to everything electric, there will be live music, free burritos, prize drawings and more. Register today at WalkingMountains.org/Event.
