Drive Electric DSM Car Show

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Public invited to Drive Electric DSM Car Show

The public is invited to get an up-close look at the variety of electric vehicles on the market during the Drive Electric DSM Car Show. The event is one of nearly 200 being held across the country for the fifth annual National Drive Electric Week.

Electric vehicles will be available for visitors to see – and ride in or test drive – courtesy of local owners and dealers. The event is from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 14, on 12th Street between Locust Street and Grand Avenue in the Western Gateway area of downtown Des Moines. Lunch will be available for purchase from local food trucks.

“For daily driving, it’s just unbeatable,” David Darrow of Grimes said of his dark gray Tesla Model S P85D, which he will display at the car show. “It just makes other cars feel kind of clumsy and rough. When you take out the delay of sucking air and fuel, and you take out the delay of a shifting transmission, it’s amazing the difference driving an electric car.”

The market for electric vehicles is growing in Iowa. Approximately 1,000 plug-in electric vehicles are already in the state, with the potential of that growing to around 100,000 vehicles by 2040. Research suggests that the carbon footprint of an electric vehicle is about half of a gasoline vehicle. Additional benefits to driving electric vehicles include the lack of tailpipe emissions, reduced maintenance costs and affordable electricity prices.

The Drive Electric DSM Car Show is one of three National Drive Electric Week events occurring in Iowa, including one in West Des Moines and one in Cedar Rapids. Details about other events are at https://driveelectricweek.org/events.php.

National Drive Electric Week is an annual celebration and outreach effort in cities around the world and is presented by Plug in America, the Sierra Club, and the Electric Auto Association. More details are at https://driveelectricweek.org/. Local sponsors of the Drive Electric DSM Car Show include the Des Moines Area MPO; the Iowa Clean Cities Coalition, a program of the Iowa Economic Development Authority; the Iowa League of Cities; and MidAmerican Energy.