Mother Earth News Fair - Ed Begley Jr admires John Yecker's 1993 Ford Ranger conversion!

Well, THIS was a pretty exciting moment last weekend ... the way John described it afterwards -- "Late on Sat. Ed Begley Jr. stopped by the Alternative Fuel Car Show at the Mother Earth News Fair near Somerset, PA. Since most people had left I had him captive to look over my electric truck conversion. As you can see we are now best buddies."

I got to take this picture WOOT!  It was a typical heart-pounding narrow brush with the moment going completely undocumented, because first my camera wouldn't even turn on (er, I had forgotten to take the lens cap off) and then when Bonnie B. was fetching hers she dropped it in the car and 4 AA batteries hopped off in different directions, but once I located them she got the whole caboodle rapidly re-assembled and rebooted the camera successfully, so áfter Ed had looked over John's 1993 Ranger there was time for a quick photo session.  I have seen John tour folks over his truck many times since we first met at Kempton in September 2010 -- this one was a definite highlight!  Thanks to Saint Bill for forwarding me the photo. 

I took more, even, and will post further on Mother Earth News Fair I promise but right now I'm getting ready for Saturday's FRENCHTOWN GREEN FAIR .  If you want to meet Big John himself, along with Brandon "Rockstar" Hollinger, they'll be putting more gas-less miles on their conversions in order to join a line-up of production EV's celebrating National Plug In Day @ the Green Fair on Saturday.   Can't wait to see YOU there if you're reading this ... hey, Dan Monroe, I'm talking to you!

Realtime update on Miata prep:  the 12 volt battery & the lithium pack are charged up & the tires inflated.  Perhaps yesterday's pessimistic prediction that I'll be reduced to abject towing was unwarranted -- fingers crossed ...

Toyota RAV-4 EV Test Drive at last ... and Frenchtown Green Fair coming up!

Yay!  I had such a great time at the Mother Earth News Fair thanks to Three Rivers EVA ... met great people and I got to take a ride in the VEHICLE OF MY DREAMS, a production EV that is just like a regular (read: old) car on the inside, and not like driving a space ship.  (The space-shippy things under the hood in this shot are jokes: a flux capacitor [of course!] and a solar-powered flower.)   

Oh, it was so much fun.  More photos to come (I have to share the one I got to take of Ed Begley Jr and John Yecker after he checked out John's "blue" Ranger!) but not just yet.

We're very busy here at Bucks County Renewables preparing for the Green Fair on Saturday ... it is thrilling to be a part of National Plug In Day and back in the throes of preparing for an electric vehicle display!  I am not so thrilled about the part where the Miata is going to have to be ignominiously towed to the show, don't ask.  At least it's only 8 or so miles from my house!  Onward ... 

You Want to Go To These EV-ents! I Hope You Can!

Seven Springs PA | Seven Springs Mountain Resort | Sept. 20-22

777 Waterwheel Drive

Seven Springs, Pa. 15622

Read more about the Mother Earth News Fair here.  This is a BIG event with dozens of speakers on sustainability topics.  (I am so excited that my hero Joel Salatin of Polyface Farm, author of Confessions of a Lunatic Farmer and Everything I Want to Do is Illegal, is going to be there!)  Congratulations to Jon & Bonnie from Three Rivers EVA for attracting numerous EV's to the East Coast Electric Vehicle Round Up and ensuring that there was programming about sustainable transportation at the Fair. 

I'll be giving my talk on the history & advantages of EV's at 10, 1, and 4 pm both Saturday & Sunday (location: Festival Hall Parking Lot).  There will also be EV owner panels at 10:30 & 2:30 on both days -- an interactive discussion giving the opportunity to hear real-world experiences of driving electric. 

The Frenchtown Green Fair's alt-fuel vehicle display is now an official National Plug In Day event!  Yippee!  Click on the Fair logo for more information about the Fair itself, or the NPID logo to go to our page on the national website.  I am totally psyched because both John Yecker & Brandon Hollinger are coming all the way from Lancaster PA to show their cars.  Thanks guys -- I can't wait to see you!  Our converted EV's will be joined by production models including the Nissan Leaf and an electric Smart Car. 

For those who want to see a LOT of production EV's in one place AND take advantage of ride-and-drive opportunities, look no farther than the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on Sunday, September 29.  Michael Craner, pioneer Tesla Roadster owner and veteran of the 2009 Renew America Roadtrip (a 100% electric drive from coast-to-coast), has organized an afternoon full of informative fun from 1 - 4 in celebration of National Plug in Day.  EV's on display will include the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Roadster & Model S, the new Toyota RAV-4, Chevy Spark and Ford Focus Electric, and the Tesla Science Foundation (an organization for which we at BCR harbor a great fondness) will be among the presenters.