What an amazing turnout we had at the grand opening celebration of our new Coulomb Chargepoint EV (electric vehicle) charging station at Bookmans Grant. We are very proud to have Tucson's support to make this an official EV-friendly city. The Electric Vehicle Association was in attendance, and our parking lot was filled with classic and modern EV's. Bob Oldfather, owner of Bookmans, put his classic collection of electric vehicles on display for the public to see. Also, two new Teslas made their Tucson debut to get recharged. Bookmans was one of their many stops as they trek across the nation to show that EV cars can serve as a long distance mode of transportation.

There were many speakers at the event. Bob welcomed everyone and expressed how thrilled he was to switch out the EV1 stations for modern ones that everyone can use, including owners of the Nissan Leaf which will soon be introduced in Tucson. Bob continued to say that when recycling was first introduced a couple decades ago, it didn't make economic sense, but today it does. He feels the same can be said for an EV-friendly community, but it's up to the people of Tucson to step up and make it happen. City officials in attendance agreed, such as Councilwoman Karen Uhlich, who read The Proclamation of an Electric Vehicle Friendly Community:

WHEREAS,the citizens of Tucson greatly value the quality of life associated with clean air and committed substantial resources to attain and maintain Clean Air Act standards; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of Tucson recognize the importance of attaining and maintaining energy independence for the nation as a whole; and

WHEREAS, gasoline and diesel fuel prices have continued their upward climb and volatility prompting consumers and fleet owners to learn more about available alternatives; and

WHEREAS, on March 6, 2009, Pima Association of Governments Regional Council and PAG's Clean Cities Program signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nissan North America and Ecotality to build electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure as part of the official Nissan all-electric Leaf vehicle launch in late 2010; and

WHEREAS, since 1999, the City of Tucson has worked with other public and private entities in Southern Arizona along with the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a strong “Clean Cities” program under the auspices of Pima Association of Governments to promote clean, alternative fuels in the Tucson region; and

WHEREAS, the features of Tucson's Clean Cities program include a strong electric vehicle campaign, which will include building public charging infrastructure and providing community education to alleviate the public's perception of “range anxiety” and infrastructure to support EV's in our community; and

WHEREAS, Clean Cities Coalition members, such as Bookmans have made strong commitments to EV infrastructure and are building a network of charging stations to enable an electric vehicle community which will play a vital role in reducing America's dependance on foreign oil and bring zero emissions vehicles to market in Southern Arizona,

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Robert E Walkup, Mayor of the City of Tucson, Arizona, do hereby proclaim Tucson to be an ELECTRIC VEHICLE FRIENDLY COMMUNITY and encourage all of our citizens to recognize and appreciate the superior results that the Tucson Regional Clean Cities Coalition achieves, and to learn about and take advantage of clean, alternative fuel opportunities whenever possible

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the City of Tucson to be affixed this 15th day of December 2009.

Bookmans is in the process of installing two other Coulomb charging stations and hope to install more in the future. We would like to thank everyone who attended the grand opening celebration and we look forward to seeing the Tucson community take action to make this city a greener, cleaner, and healthier place to live. We would also like to offer our special thanks to Colleen Crowninshield from Tucson Clean Cities Coalition who was in attendance and played a very strong role in making this event possible.

Make sure to check out all of the great pictures from the event on our flickr page!