Attention will switch briefly to electric cars today (Sunday), the second annual National Plug-In Day.
“Electric Vehicles: Then and Now,” a free public event, will be from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Forney Museum of Transportation, 4303 Brighton Blvd.
Interest in the plug-ins has been stirred some since the arrival of the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt electrics during the past year. The high-end Fisker Karma has been on display at Rickenbaugh Cadillac/Volvo, 777 Broadway, and arriving the past week in the showroom of Lakewood Fordland, 11595 W. 6th Ave., is the new Ford Focus EV.
The Focus, with an expected range of 100 miles, will recharge in three to four hours at 240 volts, a Ford official said.
Current electric vehicle models will be displayed today at Forney alongside several classic electrics, including the 1916 Detroit Electric Opera Coupe, 1976 Citi-Car Sebring and a 1979 AMC Concord Station Wagon-Solergin conversion.
The new ones shown will also include the BYD EV6, Mitsubishi iMiEV, Toyota Prius Plug-in and Ford Transit Connect EV.
The EV6, according to Andrea Mosby, of Global Alternative Energy Solutions, “is a five-passenger electric car that goes up to 180 miles on one charge with zero emissions.”
Among speakers will be Randy Fischer, state representative from Fort Collins; Jerry Tinianow, chief sustainability officer for the City and County of Denver; Alex Schroder, senior manager for Transportation Fuels for the Colorado Energy Office, and Natalia Swalnick, director of Environmental Health at the American Lung Association in Colorado.
“The benefits of EVs are well-documented, and events like this help improve energy literacy by providing the public with a hands-on experience,” said Tinianow.
Among sponsors of the event are the Electric Ride, Denver Metro Clean Cities Coalition, BYD, Nissan, SolarCity, the Forney museum and City and County of Denver.
Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.