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When people think of the average electric vehicle driver, common stereotypes come to mind. Tech-savvy hipsters. Uber-rich elitists. Or, perhaps environmentalists who will do anything short of pushing a car down the road themselves to save the planet.
Charles Gerena, lead organizer of Drive Electric RVA, and Evolve KY President Stuart Ungar are determined to transcend these preconceived notions. Drive Electric RVA and Evolve KY are electric vehicle (EV) organizations, respectively based in Richmond and Louisville, Kentucky, devoted to encouraging drivers to convert to electric vehicles.
“EV owners can be anyone,” Gerena says. “The demographic is a lot more diverse than it used to be.”
That’s part of the message of the documentary that features Ungar and Gerena, “Evolve: Driving a Clean Future in Coal Country,” which is showing at the Varina Library in eastern Henrico County on Saturday, Feb. 16, as part of the RVA Environmental Film Festival.
Ungar says Evolve KY had only six members almost five years ago. Today, it has over 100 members.
As founder and lead organizer of Drive Electric RVA, Gerena is committed to promoting electric vehicles in greater Richmond through education, outreach and advocacy, he says.
“It’s about something extremely efficient and sustainable,” Ungar says. “Electric vehicles, from cradle to grave, [cause] less pollution than gas vehicles.”
But there are drawbacks. Gerena concedes that price and access to electricity and charging stations are factors in why some people don't buy electric vehicles.
A representative of the auto industry says he doesn’t see electric cars replacing gas-fueled cars completely.
“I think electric cars will always have a place in the fleet,” says Donald L. Hall, president of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association. “I don’t think that we will all be driving electric cars 25 years from now.”
Gerena says he hopes the documentary will convey electric vehicles’ practicality. (View a trailer.)
“The driving experience is unique,” he says. “There is another future that we can imagine.”
“Evolve: Driving a Clean Future in Coal Country,” screens at Varina Library at 1 p.m. and again at 3 p.m. on Feb. 16 in collaboration with the RVA Environmental Film Festival. Admission is free. Between screenings, there is a panel discussion with Ungar participating via the internet. There will also be an electric vehicle show in the parking lot from 2 to 3 p.m.
