Electric Vehicles make statement in Canberra

Two Detroit Electric vintage cars were parked in front of Old Parliament House in Canberra, last Sunday, making the visual statement that the cars are ready - they have been since 1915 and 1917 respectively - the waiting is for the politicians to act.

To emphasize that point, further electric vehicles lined up next to these old-timers at the finale of the National Electric Vehicle Festival, held on 4 Oct 2009, on the lawns of Old Parliament House. The finale was a re-enactment of electric vehicles that had lined up before Parliament House in 1996 (photo below).

Plug-in hybrids featured at he festival, as well as many cars that had been converted into fully electric vehicles.

Electric motorcycles, bicycles and tricycles were everywhere.

People were invited to try out a Segway, a Vectrix scooter and other electric vehicles. Many people lined up for the demo runs with the Tesla Roadster.

What was most striking, was the high turn up of spectators and their enthusiasm for the technologies on display.

People were genuinely interested to find out more from exhibitors who not only could answer all their questions, but who also showed that the technology is available for everyone today.

The event left many people wondering: "What are these politicians doing there in Parliament House?"

I took all pictures, except the bottom one, courtesy of D.C. Haas, from the On Four Wheels blog,
and the 1996 photo (or was it 1995?), which Karl T. presented at our 13 Nov 2008 meeting