Unless you were sleeping, you should know that last week, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom challenged Portland Mayor Sam Adams to the Great Electric Vehicle Race. It took no time for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to get into the game. So it comes as no surprise that on Saturday, July 13th, Gavin had Tesla founder, Elon Musk as a guest on his show.
California based Tesla produces the only highway legal electric vehicle on the road. Last month, Tesla secured $465 million in federal low interest loans through the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the administration’s plan to have one million plug-in electric cars on the road by 2015.
By Greg Nickels •
July 10, 2009
Editor’s Note: This is the first contribution to gas2.org by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. Mayor Nickels is President of the US Conference of Mayors and was awarded the E-Visionary Award by the World Electric Vehicle Association. For more, see electriccarrace.org.
When it comes to electric transportation, Seattle has a significant advantage.
Our city-owned utility, Seattle City Light, was the first large electric utility in the country to become carbon-neutral using hydropower, innovative energy efficiency solutions, and carbon offsets. When you are driving on City Light electricity, you are truly driving a zero emission vehicle.
As a new generation of electric vehicles prepare to enter the market, cities along the West Coast from Vancouver B.C. to San Diego are taking steps to get plug-in ready. Because of Seattle’s partnership with Nissan, we will be leading the way and expect to be one of the first markets in the country to see Nissan’s highway-capable EV for sale in fall 2010.
