A new exhibit featuring a GM EV1 at a Tulsa auto museum is made possible by the Oklahoma EAA chapter

The Oklahoma Electric Auto Association is making its mark on the historical preservation of the electric vehicle (EV) by moving a GM EV1 from Tulsa Tech’s Broken Arrow Campus to the Heart of Route 66 Museum in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.

“We’re putting the agreements together to get them signed by all parties, and we hope to transfer the car by the end of the year,” said Doug Duke, co-founder and president of Oklahoma EAA. “The exhibit will be a unique addition to the museum and its excellent classic car collection.”

“The EV1 is the vehicle that GM recalled and then crushed out of existence ,” Duke continued.  ”There are just a few ‘survivors,’ out there, somewhere between 20 and 40 in the country. Not a lot of people were aware that Tulsa Tech even had an EV1, and this car is just one of two between Georgia and California that we know of.”

For Duke,  the EV1 represents a long history. “This may turn out to be an interim step,” he said.  “But for now, it’s where it belongs and  where folks can actually see it.”

Appearance at Fully Charged LIVE

Duke learned about the EV1 from a founding member of the Oklahoma EAA Robert Strattan who was instrumental in having it moved to Tulsa Tech. Once the chapter’s involvement was established, the first step was to publicize the car’s existence with an appearance at Fully Charged LIVE in February.

The club faced a significant challenge when it came to transporting the EV1 from Tulsa to Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas, a distance of 504 miles. Duke turned the challenge into an opportunity, enlisting the help of EV advocate Chelsea Sexton to approach Audi America to borrow a new E-tron, one of a handful of EVs rated for towing. Audi Tulsa signed-on to the idea, providing the vehicle to do the job and receiving national exposure. Strattan lent a lightweight but protective auto trailer to the effort.

“We wanted to highlight the technology available now,” Duke said. “A lot of people don’t know you can tow with EVs.“

With the success of the LIVE event, “We took it upon ourselves to get the EV1 loaned to a museum,” Duke explained. “It wasn’t getting much attention at Tulsa Tech.”

Helping to ensure the Oklahoma EV infrastructure 

Oklahoma EAA’s other major activity is assisting in maintaining the state charging network. 

“Oklahoma has a very extensive fast-charging network—I would consider it the best in the country,” Duke explained. “Francis Energy constructed and commissioned over 100 charging locations here within a matter of months. A station can be accessed within 50 miles of anywhere in the state.”

The next step in the infrastructure process has been to validate its reliability, and that’s where the Oklahoma EAA has stepped in.   

“Western Farmers Electric Cooperative  asked for volunteers from the EAA chapter, as well as employees of utility companies, to go out once every quarter to test each fast charger,” Duke said. “I’m on the testing team and so is Adriane Jaynes from our chapter. We each visit two chargers in Northeastern Oklahoma every three months to make sure they’re operating properly.”

Jaynes, who works at the Tulsa Area Clean Cities Coalition and also co-runs the Oklahoma Electric Vehicle Coalition, is very involved in state policy and legislation around electric vehicles. Along with Duke, she represents the Oklahoma EAA chapter in the coalition, and both helped to coordinate a mini-conference for Oklahoma legislators earlier this year.

“We had four hours with the House Transportation Committee to talk about solutions for EV taxation,” Jaynes said. “We were looking at how to fairly and equitably bring EV owners, who don’t pay gas tax, into the funding of road and bridge construction and maintenance. The conference went very well and we’re looking at drafting legislation that will launch a pilot project to tax all vehicles on miles traveled.”

A chapter on the move

The Oklahoma EAA was recently recognized by the national Electric Auto Association with the Roadrunner Award for fastest growing chapter. Duke’s son-in-law Kirk Saechao accepted the honor on behalf of the chapter at the national EAA conference in San Diego in January.

Duke, proud that chapter members have been furthering the EV agenda in significant ways, pointed to Brian West of McAlester, Oklahoma, who launched a successful all-EV taxi service. “He started out with Chevy Sparks and has now upgraded to Nissan Leafs,” Duke said. “It’s really made an impact in that part of the state and certainly helped with advocating the benefits of EV.”

As for the future, Duke hopes to expand the chapter’s participation in EV education at public events. “The EV1 publicity and transfer has taken up a lot of our bandwidth for the first year of our chapter’s existence,” he explained. “But once that’s all over, it will be time to move on.”