EV Driver Profile: the Pauls

Julie and Larry Paul of Encino, CA leased their first EV, the Honda EV Plus, in 1998. Knowing that the lease would expire in 2003, they purchased a new RAV4 EV in 2002 and both drove EVs for 16 months.

They were frustrated to have to turn in their Honda, a perfectly functioning EV with less than 60,000 miles on the odometer. But they still love driving their "flawless RAV4 EV," which has racked up 34,000 miles.

Larry Paul with his EV Plus as the car is turned in at the end of it's lease

"After each of my kids was born, they were driven home from the hospital in our Honda EV Plus, and to this day they are still driven on a daily basis in an electric car," Larry says. "They find it an oddity whenever they are driven in a car powered by something other than electricity."

An automotive enthusiast, Larry has won awards for high performance show cars he has built. He became interested in EVs because of their cutting edge technology, their environmental benefits and the promise of getting off the foreign oil they embody. The Pauls' second car is a Prius, which they are considering converting to a plug-in hybrid.

When Larry was asked to give a formal presentation on electric cars to co-workers on a business trip to Toronto, the normally 55-minute presentation lasted twice as long because there was so much interest in the subject. Larry won the Oscar for "Best Lunch 'n' Learn Response" and has been asked to do an encore!

Adam behind the wheel of an operational EV1 at RenewableLA, December 2007

A tried and true PIA supporter, Larry brought his young family to the 2005 28-day vigil at GM's Burbank facility to help try to save the last EV1s. More recently he volunteered at a PIA booth at the Hollywood Bowl. He has taken scores of photos at various events as one of PIA's informal historians. What's his motivation? "Because of my nine years of experience driving electric vehicles, I am totally committed to promoting any vehicle that uses both a plug to re-charge the car and an electric motor directly connected to the wheels of the car."