Test Drive Electric Vehicles on October 12

Are you EV curious?  Do you imagine driving a slick, quiet, low-or-no-emissions vehicle through town, doing your part to limit the community’s carbon foot print, only to have your green fantasy crash into concerns about what it’s really like to drive those cars?

Well, on October 12, you can trade those concerns for real experience by test driving a new plug-in hybrid electric or pure electric vehicle at the medical school’s main campus in Worcester.

“There’s already a lot of EV infrastructure on campus, so we thought this event would help answer a lot of questions and promote the idea of considering an EV,” said Suzanne Wood, sustainability and energy manager, who organized the event along with Bill Tsaknopoulos, director of auxiliary services.

On October 12 at 10 a.m. registration table will open in the medical school lobby for people to sign up for a test drive. Rides will be available until 2 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. The cars will be parked on the terrace in front of the main entrance to the school and the one-mile-plus test drives will start and end at that location.

The event is organized by Mass Drive Clean, the first state-sponsored program in the United States to offer free, no obligation test drives as a way to promote EV ownership. Mass Drive Clean is sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, National Grid, and Plug-In America and administered by REACH Strategies.

“Not everyone is comfortable going into an auto dealership just to try out an EV, so this program provides that opportunity in a convenient location, without any sales pressure,” Wood said.

In addition to the test-drive vehicles, several other vehicles will be on display for the duration of the event, with experts on hand to answer questions. “We are still working out the specifics of how many cars, makes and models, will be available, but we expect as many as 10 cars will be here for test-drives,” Wood said. “So, stay tuned for more details and people should mark their calendars so they don’t miss this opportunity.”