Electric vehicles on display at show in downtown Aiken

Donald Griggs drives an electric car because he believes it helps reduce air pollution, but that's not the only reason why he's a fan of the 2017 Nissan Leaf that he leases.

When Griggs is behind the Leaf's wheel, "it's fun," he said. "I'm not a drag racer, but if you want to be the first one to take off at the stoplight, you can be. You just put your foot on the accelerator and then, zoom; you're on your way. It has a lot of pickup."

Griggs, who lives in Columbia, brought his Leaf to Cafe Scientifique's second annual Aiken Electric Vehicle Show on Saturday next to the Aiken Railroad Depot on Park Avenue.

When attendees stopped to look at his car, Griggs answered their questions enthusiastically.

"Nissan is very generous," he said. "As part of the lease, they will tow you for free, even if the reason you need towing is because you were dumb and let the charge run out."

Dr. Craig Powell, a chemistry professor at Presbyterian College in Clinton, has been driving electric cars since 2014. First, he leased a Nissan Leaf. Now, he has a BMW i3.

"It was kind of an experiment to see if living an electric life was feasible, and the Nissan Leaf showed me it was possible to do it," Powell said. "Electric cars are fast, and there is no gear shifting. There is one gear, and they just go. They're also quiet. I like not being tied so much to oil interests.

"For long trips," Powell added, "I do have a secondary car that uses gas. But since I only live four or five miles from work, the electric car works great around town."

In addition to automobiles, there were bicycles at the Electric Vehicle Show.

Dr. Holly Wolz, chief of staff at Veterinary Services of Aiken, owned one of the two wheelers, a white Pedego City Commuter.

Her husband, Ed, also has an electric bicycle. He is the Republican candidate in the race for the Aiken City Council seat in District 6 and will face Democrat JoAnn Hooper in the Nov. 7 general election.

"I've ridden many, many miles on bicycles; I do it for fitness," Holly said. "But you get older, and around here in Aiken, there are some big hills. The electric bicycle lets you go lots of places easily. You can ride it using your woman power or you can click the motor into gear and really get going."

Sam Erb took a ride on Holly's bike and enjoyed it.

"It was really cool," he said. "I liked how smoothly it ran."

Elise Fox attended the Electric Vehicle Show with her 9-year-old twins – Colin and Hannah – and her husband, Kevin.

The kids were all smiles when they had the opportunity to sit on an electric motorcycle owned by Tim Haas of North Augusta and pose for photographs.

"We've been looking at getting an EV (electric vehicle), and we're here investigating the different ones," Elise said. "We like them because they have cleaner engines because they're not petroleum-burning. We also like the idea of a full electric vehicle better than a hybrid."

Elise was impressed with the Leaf.

"It's much roomier than I thought it would be, and the prices are pretty reasonable as well," she said.

Kevin liked the Leaf as well, and he also was interested in a Tesla Model S that he saw.

"I'm glad they have this event; it's really nice," Elise said. "It's wonderful to be able to see all these different types of vehicles in one place. I didn't even know that electric motorcycles existed."

Todd Lista is the president of Cafe Scientifique, which is based in the former Aiken Post Office on Laurens Street and has the goal of making science accessible to the general public.

"When you hear about electric vehicles worldwide, you think, 'Oh, not in Aiken,' " Lista said. "But Aiken seems to be a progressive little town. This the second year for the show, and we've got a good turnout, so there is interest here in these vehicles."

Cafe Scientific held the Electric Vehicle Show in conjunction with National Drive Electric Week, which ends Sunday.

For more information about Cafe Scientifique, visit http://cafescientifiqueaiken.net/.

​Dede Biles is a general assignment reporter for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since January 2013. A native of Concord, N.C, she graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Source: Electric vehicles on display at show in downtown Aiken