Public Invited to Plug-Ins, Pinots and Progress at Thomas Fogarty Winery
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Zan Dubin Scott: (310) 383-0956
Plug In America, the nation’s leading electric car advocacy organization, invites the public to attend its second annual fundraiser, Plug-Ins, Pinots and Progress, which will bring some of the latest electric vehicles to Northern California’s Thomas Fogarty Winery in Woodside on Sunday, Aug. 9.
The aerodynamic Aptera, rarely seen outside of its San Diego home, will be displayed at the festive event along with the revolutionary Tesla Roadster sports car manufactured by Tesla Motors of San Carlos, a BMW Mini E and a tall and thin Tango by Commuter Cars. All three are zero emission vehicles.
The party, 4-8 p.m., will feature a live auction of such items as an A123/Hymotion battery kit to convert a Prius into a plug-in hybrid and installation services A+ Japanese Auto Repair (estimated value more than $10,000). Santa Cruz mountain wines and organic hors d’oeuvres will be served at the benefit for Plug In America, which is driving the clean vehicle movement towards widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles recharged by domestic energy.
“Nearly every automaker in the world is developing an electric car and the U.S. government is pouring billions of dollars into the effort,” says Plug In America President Daniel Davids. “Our party will celebrate Plug In America’s unmatched contribution to this momentum and raise the funds we need to ensure that every consumer can choose to purchase one of the cleanest cars ever made.”
In January, Plug In America staged history’s greenest parade of some 80 highway-capable plug-in vehicles to urge President Obama to call for one million plug-ins on the road by 2012. Prior to this, through nationwide grassroots outreach and legislative advocacy, the organization helped to shape the federal stimulus bill that contained more than $14 billion for plug-in vehicles and infrastructure.
“Our work will put vastly more numbers and kinds of plug-in electric vehicles on the road,” says Plug In America legislative director Jay Friedland of Santa Cruz. “It will help create jobs and spur spending by incentivizing consumers to purchase the cleanest-running vehicles made today and those just around the corner.”
Plug-Ins, Pinots and Progress guests will also partake of “solar snow cones,” icy treats made on a machine powered by solar electricity, the Fogarty Winery’s famed Pinot and their winemaker Michael Martella’s Sauvignon Blanc.
Other auction items include two tickets on Southwest Airlines, a week's stay in a condo on the big island of Hawaii, tickets to San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival, and a Coulomb Technologies charging station, which will allow plug-in hybrid owners to install charging anywhere they’d like to drive that may not have a conventional electrical socket available.
Event partners and major sponsors include Thomas Fogarty Winery, Gordon Biersch Brewing Company, LRE Catering, Whole Foods Catering, Café Gratitude Catering, Hymotion/A123, Coulomb Technologies, Southwest Airlines, Vibrant Events and Heart of Green.
Tickets to the Aug. 9 benefit, $120, $240 and $480 per person, are available at www.pluginamerica.org. Information: (415) 323-3329. Thomas Fogarty Winery is located outside of Palo Alto at 19501 Skyline Blvd., Woodside 94062.
Email zan@pluginameric.org for a high resolution of this photograph of the Aptera:
About Plug In America: Plug In America is leading the nation’s plug-in vehicle movement. The nonprofit organization works to accelerate the shift to plug-in vehicles powered by clean, affordable, domestic electricity to reduce our nation's dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment. For more information: http://www.pluginamerica.org.