Electric Cars Championed at NY Auto Show’s EV Pavilion

The New York International Auto Show is the most well-attended auto show in the country. New York City is also a media capital and thus a prime place to forward the cause of ‘green’ vehicles. Automakers did this in a big way this year with electric, hybrid, hydrogen, and alternative fuel vehicles of varying types at the 2010 NYIAS.

For the first time, electric vehicles were also showcased in a ride-along venue on the show floor. Here, Green Car Journal and the NYIAS hosted the EV Pavilion, an electric vehicle ride-along that featured the electric MINI E, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, THINK City, and newcomer AMP Electric Vehicles. These electric cars negotiated a seventh-mile track with five turns to lend a sense of what electric vehicles are all about.

AMP, an EV Pavilion participant and sponsor, is now marketing its electric conversions of Chevy’s Equinox crossover vehicle and the past few model years of the Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice. Sponsor PEP Stations was also on hand with examples of its credit card–friendly electric vehicle charging stations (shown here charging a Mitsubishi i-MiEV), which feature touch-screen and point-of-sale operation. Exposing attendees to the concept of public charging and illustrating how chargers work is an important part of the puzzle in encouraging electric vehicles to the mass market.

An EV Pavilion press conference was held at Javits Center’s Crystal Cathedral during the show’s second media day. Here, participants and sponsors shared their vision and details about their electric vehicle products with media and VIPs.

Along with electric cars running in the EV Pavilion, the press conference showcased a MINI E that’s been operating as part of the City of New York’s Street Conditions Observation Unit (SCOUT). Along with other vehicles in the SCOUT program, inspectors drive 10 of these zero-emission MINIs on city streets to identify problem conditions to be repaired like potholes and graffiti.

Over the course of the auto show’s two media and 10 public days, some 10,000 attendees rode along in these electric cars. That’s an important opportunity gained for the electric vehicle field. Most people have heard or read about electric drive vehicles, but have never been inside one. Experiencing the quick torque of an electric motor, noting its silent operation, and witnessing first-hand that absolutely zero tailpipe emissions are being generated are all important to the process of understanding the value of EVs.

Those who rode along seemed quite taken by their rides and there were always many questions – about single-charge driving range, top speed, time to recharge, and of course cost and availability. It was evident that curiosity and enthusiasm exists big time for electric vehicles, just as it’s evident that first-hand exposure to electric vehicles at venues like the EV Pavilion are crucial elements in the electric vehicle’s drive to market.