In the USA, the resurgence of electric vehicles was driven by air pollution, which led to the passage of the Clean Air Act of 1970. Because California could not meet the 1970 Clean Air Act (CAA) regulations in Los Angeles, it was granted the right to require auto companies to manufacture a vehicle that would enable them to come into compliance. The California Air Resources Board set standards for “low emission vehicles” that led over time to “zero-emission vehicles” (ZEVs) i.e. electric vehicles (EVs). Other states were allowed to join CA if they also were not in compliance with the CAA, and Massachusetts was the next state to join. The race to manufacture a functional, affordable EV that had good driving range was on!
In 1989, The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), based in Greenfield, MA, developed the American Tour de Sol. This competitive 8-day road-rally event ran from Washington, DC to Maine. Its purpose was to demonstrate that practical EVs, recharged by zero-carbon renewably-produced electricity, were possible.
This event was inspired by the Swiss Tour de Sol and the Australian World Solar Challenge, which started in 1985 and 1987 respectively. However, it departed from the flying saucer type cars that demonstrated that solar worked. It challenged entrants to build practical cars that could not only meet CA and MA’s zero-emission vehicle goals to clean the air, but also reduce global warming emissions and “change the world.”
NESEA invited car companies, electric utilities, colleges, universities, and K-12 schools to participate. The event gave prizes in various entry categories, and NESEA collected data on driving range. When the US Department of Energy insisted that methanol and ethanol cars also be admitted, the organizers started measuring carbon emissions/mile, to demonstrate the superiority of EVs recharged by zero-carbon electricity.
In the early years of the event, electric utility companies brought prototypes built by GM and Ford. As time went on, Honda brought their Insight EV, and Toyota displayed its hybrid Prius. Many high schools built EVs, usually by stripping the gas engine out of a commercially available car, and converting it to an EV. In its heyday, fifty vehicles entered each year.
