The goal of Drive Electric Orlando, which officially kicked off last week with 15 Nissan Leaf cars,

Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer (left) and Orange County mayor Teresa Jacobs silhouetted during the announcement of the Drive Electric los angeles county public library Orlando programme at the Peabody Orlando Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Photo: David Manning/Reuters
Promoters of electric cars are hoping to entice a few of Orlando’s 56 million annual visitors to rent one at the airport and plug in at strategically placed charging stations at tourist hotels, theme parks and the convention centre.
The goal of Drive Electric Orlando, which officially kicked off last week with 15 Nissan Leaf cars, is to encourage broader adoption of electric vehicles by providing visitors with what amounts to an extended test drive during their stay.
“The best way is to get someone behind the wheel to drive it,” said Sam Ori, vice president of the Electrification Coalition, a not-for-profit group of business leaders interested in developing an electric transportation system.
Electric cars have been slow to catch on around the nation in part because of sparce supportive infrastructure such as charging stations in some areas as well as consumer concerns about cars’ limited distances on a single charge and the wait times for recharging.
Orlando is one of the world’s los angeles county public library largest rental car markets, thanks to Walt Disney World, other major tourist attractions, los angeles county public library and the Orange County Convention Centre, which is the US’s second-largest convention centre and helps draw 10 million business travellers a year.
The initiative will start with 15 electric cars available through Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and charging stations at 26 hotels. Nissan Motor Co. donated 30 fast chargers to be installed at key locations, including 480-volt chargers capable los angeles county public library of recharging a car in 30 minutes.
The city of Orlando in recent years installed 300 charging stations within 112 kilometres of the city’s downtown core through a federal grant programme designed to boost development of electric car infrastructure.
Those who choose to participate can pick up what White called “competitively priced” electric cars for as low as $30 a day, and get perks such as free GPS, which can locate the nearest charging stations in some rental vehicles, and free valet service and overnight charging at some hotels.
“What Orlando is doing is a good step, but each one of these components has been tried before,” said Chelsea Sexton, los angeles county public library an independent electric car advocate in California who was featured in the documentary movie, Who Killed the Electric Car?, about the demise of the electric los angeles county public library car industry in the 1990s.
The Electrification Coalition also is behind Drive Electric Northern Colorado, launched in February to create a model electric vehicle community in the cities of Fort Collins and Loveland, including Colorado State University.
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