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Tour de Sol 
Advanced Vehicles on the Market
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Pictorial of 2001 Tour de SolThe Tour de Sol took a giant step forward this year to become the world’s largest green transportation festival. Festivals were held in six communities from Waterbury, CT to Boston, MA between May 19th and 26th.
"The timing could not have been better," said Warren Leon, NESEA’s executive director. "With energy as a front-page topic, we were able to deliver the message that the Tour de Sol’s winning vehicles show that Americans don’t have to sacrifice safety, performance, or comfort to get a car that’s good for the environment."
Honda’s revolutionary gas-electric hybrid Insight started the event in Waterbury, CT, May 21. As Gold Sponsor of the event, American Honda Motor Company took the opportunity to unveil their 2001 Insight, which claims 68 mpg with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), and is certified as an ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV). Honda also created a "Power of Dreams Award" for a very special student team. This year’s recipient was West Philadelphia High School.
For many, the most inspiring team was from Micronesia. They participated with an electric scooter produced by Personal Electric Transport (PET), and brought with them an urgent message to the American people that rising oceans caused by global warming is threatening the very existence of their island nation. – and that electric vehicles could help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the major source of global warming. Tanya Harris, Charge d’Affairs, Embassy of the Federated States of Micronesia, delivered a moving speech (*.) at the Tour de Sol finish line. Here the Micronesian team celebrates with Team China and PET vehicles.
It was a great honor to have U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, join the Tour de Sol at the finish line in Boston to deliver a message from the Bush Administration. " I want to congratulate all the participants in the Tour de Sol for the important role you’re playing in bringing the concepts (of the Bush Energy Plan) within reach, and making green transportation a reality." (full speech (*.doc))
Young people are fascinated with Earth-friendly transportation options. Over 5,000 students took a field trip to the Tour de Sol, to learn about advanced technology vehicles and other Earth-friendly transportation options such as walking, biking, and mass transit.
This year, 29 high school and college teams competed in the Tour de Sol.
Cars brought to the event by individuals from around the country are also on the increase. Here Team EV Sport show off their one-of-a-kind electric Lomax kit car. Owners of hybrid Honda and Toyota vehicles also joined us to show off their new cars.
The GEM was a great crowd pleaser. Manufactured by DaimlerChrysler, it represents a new type of vehicle known as a neighborhood vehicle. This all-electric vehicle is designed to get people around their community, corporate park, or university. DaimlerChrysler also brought prototype hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles.
The Boston finish line event took the Tour de Sol to a new level! Thousands of people explored the pedestrian, biking, mass transit, and renewable energy exhibits, as well as the new generation of cleaner hi-tech cars, and all of this to the backdrop of music from the stage at Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Ford’s TH!NK Mobility display, was a focal point with electric bikes, neighborhood vehicles, an all-electric commuter and, and a prototype fuel cell.
Test-drives offered by auto dealers and car owners gave people an opportunity to try out new cleaner vehicles. One car owner proudly announced he had given 45 test-drives one afternoon.
NESEA congratulates and thanks the three hundred people including 50 event staff who traveled the rally route; the over two hundred volunteers in host communities (Waterbury, CT, Albany, NY, and Pittsfield, Greenfield, Worcester, and Boston, MA) who paved the way; and the hundreds of people, corporations, and government agencies who donated resources and time to help make the Tour de Sol: The Great American Green Transportation an agent for change – change to more Earth-friendly ways of getting around.
nesea@nesea.org |
