Author: Sonja Kass

Please come to the County meeting tomorrow, Wednesday, May 9, at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Historic County Building to testify for the need for an electric charging station at the Tech Center in Waimea, which is owned by the county. If there is enough testimony chances are very high one or more council members will be proposing an amendment to the Mayor’s operating budget Any owners or supporters of electric cars who could testify as to the need for such a facility at the public hearing on the County Budget next Wednesday, May 9, at 5 p.m. in the Council Chambers at the Historic County Building would be really helpful to the cause. It is always more effective to have people show up in person and testify, but for those who can’t come to the hearing, they can help by submitting email testimony by May 9 ( budget decision-making starts on May 10). Email testimony can be submitted...

Reposted from TGI  By Dennis Fujimoto The Garden Island | Wednesday, February 28, 2018, 12:05 a.m. Kudos to Sonja Kass, Ben Sullivan, and the many others (Beth Tokioka was watching the electric vehicles at the Kauai Community Market) on a great Kauai Electric Vehicle Ride and Drive (Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. even took the Electric Soul for a spin around the parking lot under the scrutiny of video cameras).   Pi‘ilani Palama (she used to be a Ching girl) had the nation’s first plug-in hybrid mini van available next to the Tesla (auto pilot even parking the car when it finds a parking space?). Of course, Wes Kaneakua from Aloha Kia Kauai is always knowledgeable about the Kia hybrids and electric cars available for consumers. Now, how many of you liked the custom bike (pedal-power, no less) that was parked near the information table at the Kauai Community Market? Dennis Fujimoto can be reached at 245-0453 or at dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com....

 Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island  Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island Sonja Kass shows off the engine of a Nissan Leaf, Saturday during the Kauai Community Market as a preview of the 4th Kauai EV Ride & Drive coming up, Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dennis Fujimoto/The Garden Island Ben Sullivan drops in to chat with the Kauai EV group, Saturday during the preview of the 4th Kauai EV Ride & Drive coming up Saturday at the Kauai Community Market. PUHI — Sonja Kass has been driving an electric vehicle since 2014. “I have a solar array at home that charges the car,” Kass said. “I can drive and get it charged by the sun — no gas.” Kass was among the group of electric vehicle enthusiasts who invites people to come and ride and drive an electric vehicle for free Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Kauai Community College’s Kauai Community Market site. This is the fourth Kauai EV Ride &Drive program....

The Kaua’i General Plan, which was formally approved earlier this month, contains bold carbon emission reduction goals. It aligns Kaua’i with the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, it calls for 80% islandwide emissions reductions by 2050, and it sets a goal for 100% reduction transportation emissions by 2045. In an effort to discuss and learn more about the opportunities and challenges of steep reductions in carbon emissions, Kaua’i EV and the KCC sustainability club are hosting a panel discussion at Kaua’i Community College on Saturday, February 24th at 12:00. The discussion will take place in KCC’s CARP 108 during Kaua’i EV’s annual ride and drive event. Mayor Carvalho will speak about the county goal for 100% clean transportation by 2045. Ben Sullivan, County of Kaua'i Energy and Sustainability Coordinator, will discuss the opportunities and challenges of the 2045 transportation goal. Jeff Mikulina, Blue Planet’s executive director, will elaborate on the need for rapid emissions reductions. And Marie Williams, long range planner...

The parade was great! Our cars turned out beautiful, and had high recognition as electric cars. During most of the parade it did not rain, and as the photographer, jogging by the cars I got to hear a lot of positive reactions from the spectators. We also got new signups on the mailing list and (form is in the right sidebar, next to this article) on our Facebook Community right after the parade - we even hit 100 members on Facebook, the latest of whom bought a 10,000$ discounted Leaf at Kuhio Nissan right after the parade!  ...

We got together yesterday morning to practice decorating our cars for the "Lights on Rice" Christmas lights parade next week. It turns out you can just tape strings of lights to the car with blue painter's tape, and it works. We tested our battery-powered lights and regular LED Christmas lights plugged into a small inverter in the 12V plug (cigarette lighter). It's amazing how many strings of LED lights you can run on 120W. We also finished our light-up signs, and Theresa's Leaf will drive around fully lit for a whole week! Best of all, we had so much fun. ...

Do you want to show off your EV in the “Lights on Rice” Christmas parade? Please join us! Each car should be decorated with Christmas lights of some kind. We will meet Saturday Nov 25th (after Thanksgiving) at 9am at Sonja's house to experiment decorating Theresa's car sand sharing ideas that work. Please call, email, or comment on this blogpost for directions. It's also fine just to come, decorate and have fun, you don't have to be in the parade or even own an EV for that. The big event is Friday, Dec. 1st, we meet at 3PM at the Vidinha Stadium parking lot and will do most of the actual decorating there. Please don't come late, traffic jams are expected after 4pm. Sadly at this point in time the parade organizer does not allow extra EVs in the parade in order to not have it get too long,  besides KauaiEV there are 60 other participants. Come watch and photograph us instead, reserve...

We met Sunday, a quarter to one, just as planned, had a nice chat for a while, explained the route and went cruzin' with our electric cars... It was beautiful, scenic and fun to drive our idyllic backroads, the land is green again and the mountains graced with waterfalls. We got a lot of attention with our parade of electric cars and the Kauai EV flags, Lots of shakas, waves and honks from other drivers especially once we went into Kapaa. At 2pm we arrived at Kealia, parked together by the ocean and took a lot of photos. Then we went on to the potluck spot where we stayed almost until 4pm, having a great time and enjoying good food. Watch Abhi's video of the cruise by clicking on the picture below. ...

by Abhi Rama soundspaceyoga.com, posted with permissionYoga, Back in 2001 I was part of a group of grassroots activists here on Kaua'i called Bio-diesel Kauai.  Mostly farmers, they were activly making bio-diesel in small batches from french fry grease and planting experiemental oil-producing crops to see if fuel supply could be "homegrown." I moved back to Kauai 15 years later and purchased a small, old Honda. I gave to the group my Mercedes 240 D car which I had run on bio-diesel and was hoping they would remember me.  Well they did, and welcomed me back to my island home warmly, however the group was no longer active. Luckily I had the inspiration one fine night last December that I must make as my priority to drive and EV, electric vehicle.  10 months later I find myself with a new group of consciousness trailblazers on the road of clean energy and had the best time parading through the country side and ocean side of Kauai...

Scenic EV Island Drive, Sunday 11/5, meet at Keahua Arboretum at 12:45 pm. KauaiEV is happy to co-organize "EV Riders Cruzin" with potluck at the end. We will meet 12:45 for the drive at the Keahua Arboretum just beyond the new bridge, leave promptly at 1pm and try to be at our potluck spot near Kealia at 2pm. We will drive the backroads of Wailua and Kapahi, which are surprisingly scenic. Part of the fun is to make a long line of EVs on the roads that people will notice. Only EVs, plug-in hybrids and fossil-fuel-free vehicles please. Rides are available for non EV owners, email or message me to arrange, or comment on this post and I'll get back to you. For news and updates please follow this blog and KauaiEV on Facebook. Thank you Sound Space Yoga for being an organizer of the event and for your commitment to Zero Emission! Route We will meet at 12:45 at the Keahua Arboretum, and leave from there at 1 pm. It takes between  15 and...