On Thursday, April 22, the Dane County Office of Energy and Climate Change, RENEW Wisconsin, and Slipstream, will be hosting an Earth Day Electric Vehicle (EV) Parade in downtown Madison. At 1:30 PM, a variety of electric vehicles will converge at Brittingham Park. The parade will depart the park at 2 PM, drive through the city and university, make a loop around Capitol Square, and then return to Brittingham Park around 2:30 PM.
All electric cars (as well as electric trucks and electric motorcycles) are welcome to join the parade. For more information and to register for the event, please visit Earth Day EV Parade.
Spectators are encouraged to attend at Brittingham Park, Capitol Square, or along the parade route. All attendees are asked to social distance and wear masks when interacting with others.
With transportation emissions accounting for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, EVs are a significant solution to the climate emergency. Electric vehicles are clean and produce zero tailpipe emissions. Even in a state like Wisconsin, where coal-fired power plants are the largest supplier of in-state electricity generation, EVs emit lower annual emissions than comparable internal combustion engine vehicles. As Wisconsin continues to transition to clean energy, the environmental benefits of “driving electric” will continue to increase.
“Dane County is excited to participate in the Earth Day EV Parade and help showcase that electric vehicles are already being utilized in our community,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “This parade gives people an opportunity to learn more about the benefits of EVs. Dane County added several EVs to our fleet in 2020, and we hope to see even more on the road in the future.”
Local citizens organized Madison’s first Earth Day EV Parade in 2020, which went from Middleton to Capitol Square and back to Middleton. Several dozen EVs participated in last year’s event, and more are anticipated this year. Vehicles that have signed up this year include the Mustang Mach-E, Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model 3, Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf, Hyundai Kona, Toyota Prius Prime, Audi E-tron, and Harley Davidson Livewire.