ChicagoPriusGroup at Ryerson Woods 7-14-07

Hello Everyone,

It's time for our second ChicagoPriusGroup outreach event to the public of 2007. This will be Saturday July 14, 2007. The location will be at the Ryerson Woods Conservation Area Welcome Center, located in Deerfield on Riverwoods Rd., south of Half Day Rd, north of Deerfield Rd. and west of the 1-94 tollway. The address is 21850 N. Riverwoods Rd., Deerfield, IL. This is a beautiful "green" building which has applied for LEED certification (hope they'll have tours).

The event is called the "Hybrid Car Expo" and is sponsored by Friends of Ryerson Woods, working in partnership with the Lake County Forest Preserves (www.lcfpd.org).

The event runs from 1:00PM-4:00PM and is free to the public.

At 2:00PM, Mike Duoba, from Argonne National Labs will speak. Mike, in 1997, helped found and now heads Argonne National Laboratory's (located by Darien, IL) new Advanced Powertrain Test Facility. Mike has authored many papers on hybrids and other advanced vehicle propulsion technologies.

We are looking for Prius/other hybrid owners to come out and display your vehicles and talk to the public. You do not have to open your vehicles unless you want to and we will not be giving test drives. Actually, there will be test drives of hybrid vehicles from Arlington Heights Ford and Libertyville Toyota. Many people have misconceptions about hybrids. Having the chance to talk to owners is a great help in dispelling myths and misinformation. You don't have to know technical details of the car beyond what you already know, most people just want to know; does it drive like a real car, does it really get good MPG, when do you have to replace the battery (and how much), is there extra maintenance and where do you plug it in. If any technical questions come up, someone will be there from our group to answer, feel free to say you don't know but someone else does.

We will start setting up between 12:15PM-12:45PM. We are looking for owners to come out between those times. You don't have to stay all day, a few hours would be great, do try and be there for Mike's presentation. We would like to get a head count of who is coming, what time you will be there and for how long. If you intend to come out, please respond back to [email protected] and let us know.

Wayne

 

Only one more week to go. If your coming out you may want to get there a bit earlier than 1:00PM, the parking lot is not that big and I don't know where our group cars will be placed.

Wayne

 

Remember, this Saturday is the "hybrid car show".

Listen to Mike D. from Argonne Labs speak about hybrids. Test drive different hybrids. Compare notes with other hybrid drivers. convince the public what we know, hybrids are the next step. See a (almost) LEED certified nature center building.

Come on out, it's free.

Wayne

 

It was a great day for a hybrid gathering. Some pictures are here. We had 1 Classic, 2 Ford Escapes and 12 Prius during the course of the day. Mike from Argonne gave an interesting talk, and drove in with a Honda Insight. And, having a good spot in the parking lot to intercept everyone, talked to over 30 people about hybrids. Thanks to everyone for coming out.

Wayne

Remember our last outreach to the public event is the Illinois Renewable Energy Fair, August 11-12 in Oregon, IL. Info to come.