Electric cars are a quiet revolution — quiet as in “people still don’t talk a lot about them,” and quiet as in “you really can’t hear them, because their engines don’t make noise.”
But electric cars are slowly gaining steam (ho ho) in Westport. And Robin Tauck is one of their biggest advocates.
Robin Tauck, with her Tesla battery charging cord. She drives back and forth to New York often, she says, with “no range anxiety.”
A member of the family that founded Tauck Tours (now Tauck World Discovery), a Tesla owner for 2 yeears and an active member of the Westport Electric Car Club, the longtime Westporter does whatever she can to spread the word about the many advantages of electric vehicles.
Tomorrow (Sunday, April 21), she’ll take part in the NYC CO2 Rally, a ride around Manhattan.
And next Saturday — April 27 — she joins 20 or so other drivers for Westport’s 1st-ever Electric Car Rally.
The 40-mile event begins at 9 a.m. at the eastbound Saugatuck train station. (Fun fact: that’s where railroad parking pass holders get special parking privileges and free charging.)
Rally vehicles will include Teslas, Nissan Leafs, Chevy Volts, Fisker Karmas, Mitsubishi i-MiEVs and Smart Car EVs and more. The first electric cars in America will be there too: a 1907 Columbia built in Hartford, and a 1910 Broc Electric Car, courtesy of Dragone Classic Motorcars of Westport.
(Fun fact #2: Electric cars were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, prior to advances in internal combustion engine technology and the mass production of cheaper gasoline vehicles.)
The time-speed-distance rally will include a “pit stop” at 11:30 a.m., for the Fairfield Earth Day Celebration at Fairfield Warde High School.
The rally concludes at 1 p.m. back at the train station, for public viewing and awards. Then it’s off to the Blu Parrot, where everyone can enjoy sliders and music.
At most road rallies, you wouldn’t hear music over the roar of engines.
That won’t be a problem at Westport’s 1st Electric Vehicle Rally, for sure.
(To enter a “plug-in” car — partial or fully electric — email jshuck@optonline.net. For more information, click here.)