Gallagher’s get-together is being held September 12 from noon to 4:00 PM local time at the Paseo Arts District in Oklahoma City, OK. However as he explains in the video, Oklahoma is the “heart of oil country,” and EVs aren’t exactly common there. Therefore, he’s hoping that people from surrounding states could make the trek to the get-together. So far, his gathering has 14 cars registered to attend, including five Nissan Leafs and a Tesla Model S. Gallagher even implores Elon Musk to send over a Tesla Model X and Mary Barra to deliver a new Chevrolet Volt. While the chances are slim, either company would probably get some easy positive PR for taking Gallagher up on the offer.
The people behind National Drive Electric Week are certainly supporting the cause too. “John believes it’s time to stop preaching to the choir, and we agree with him,” said event co-founder Zan Dubin-Scott while promoting the Oklahoma City event. There are hundreds of EV celebrations taking place around North America during those seven days, so even if you can’t make it to Oklahoma, there’s likely one nearby.
Event will be held on Sept. 12 at an art colony next to two of America’s largest oil producers
ELK CITY, OK, July 31, 2015—Oklahoma resident John Gallagher has become the first oil-field worker to organize a National Drive Electric Week event. Gallagher, who hauls oil in his 18-wheeler from a local well site to a major pipeline, is staging his event at a local art colony near two of the country’s leading oil production companies, Continental Resources and Devon Energy, among others. He’s never seen an EV in Western Oklahoma, “the heart of oil country,” as he calls it, and doesn’t own an EV. But everything changed when he saw “Revenge of the Electric Car” (directed by Chris Paine) and he has become an ardent advocate for plug-in vehicles.
In this short promo he produced about his event, he calls on Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk and GM CEO Mary Barra to bring their newest plug-ins to his event, one of dozens planned coast-to-coast for the fifth anniversary of National Drive Electric Week, Sept. 12-20, 2015. He urges other cities that aren’t participating in the national observance, and where plug-ins are rare, to get on board.
“John believes it’s time to stop preaching to the choir, and we agree with him,” said Drive Electric Week co-founder and Plug In America spokesperson Zan Dubin-Scott, “which is why we are so excited to see his event in Oklahoma City setting such a great example. We share John’s hope that Elon Musk, Mary Barra and other automakers’ CEOs will send their newest EVs to Oklahoma City to let all of America know about the vehicles that John says are ‘just better.’ ”
Says Gallagher in his video: “It’s not about being anti-oil, it’s about, this is the future, this is just better.” He explained to Plug In America that better means better for the consumer who no longer has to hassle with oil changes and other maintenance or going to the gas station. They get to charge at home, instead.
National Drive Electric Week is based on the idea that nothing beats ride-and-drives in clean, quiet and powerful plug-in vehicles for converting gasoline-car drivers to EV owners. The event, designed to showcase the fun, cost-savings and clean-air benefits of plug-in vehicles, was launched in 2011 in 29 cities, growing to more than 150 cities in the U.S. and abroad in 2014. Plug In America, the Sierra Club and the Electric Auto Association team up with local groups to organize events, which typically feature all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars from every automaker on the market.
Nissan and its all-electric LEAF have served as the event’s exclusive automotive sponsor since 2013. ClipperCreek is another national sponsor.
National Drive Electric Week will take place Sept. 12 through 20. To organize or attend an event, visit https://driveelectricweek.org/events.php.
About Plug In America: Plug In America, a San Francisco-based national nonprofit organization, works to accelerate the shift to plug-in vehicles powered by clean, affordable, domestic electricity to reduce our nation’s dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment. The organization conceived National Drive Electric Week and has advanced workplace charging by pioneering regular ride-and-drive events at such leading corporations as Google, Mattel and Paramount Pictures. It developed the world’s largest, most dedicated network of plug-in vehicle owners and drivers, many of whom have driven EVs for well over a decade. We drive electric. You can, too. www.pluginamerica.org.
About the Sierra Club: The Sierra Club is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization with more than 2.4 million members and supporters and chapters in all 50 states. The Sierra Club’s national electric vehicles initiative advocates for a switch to EVs as one important way to reduce emissions and cut oil consumption. Sierra Club is proud to have been one of the three national groups organizing National Drive Electric Week since its inception in 2011. www.sierraclub.org/EVGuide.
About the Electric Auto Association: The Electric Auto Association, formed in 1967, is a nonprofit educational organization with 75 chapters worldwide that promotes the advancement and widespread adoption of electric vehicles. www.electricauto.org.
