Part two of my 2012 Plug In Day experience was down in Cypress. The Orange County event was held at the Mitsubishi North America headquarters and there was plenty of test drives around. This was an opportunity to try out the Mitsubishi i (formerly the MiEV) and see their Level 3 ChaDEmo charger in action.
One of the first things that I saw after I parked at the OC event was a Sparrow. Prior to my ActiveE, I was familiar with the Nissan Leaf, GM EV1, Chevy Volt, the Tesla Roadster and that was pretty much it. As I waited to be allocated my ActiveE, I started reading up on previous EVs and the Sparrow was one that caught my eye. It would never be a vehicle I would be getting, but it harkens to some of the trials and tribulations of EV predecessors to the current generation, after all, as George Santayana has written, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
The Orange County event had more EV conversions than the Los Angeles County event.
A converted Geo Metro –
A homebuilt 3 wheeler –
A converted Miata –
A converted VW Pickup Truck –
There was some speeches and now Congressman-elect, and former GM EV1 Driver, Allan Lowenthal was there to meet with his constituents.
The Orange County event provided me with the opportunity to test drive the Mitsubishi i (formerly the MiEV) and a Honda Fit EV (from Toan Ngo). I also let a few interested parties test drive my ActiveE.
The Fit EV –
Here’s a shot of the Mitsubishi i from previous trip to the same site in Cypress –
In all it was a successful day, filled with EV enthusiasts and curious folks who, hopefully, will become EV enthusiasts.
