Michigan EV enthusiasts get ready for 1st all-electric Woodward ‘Clean Cruise’

• EV enthusiasts will host a cruise along Woodward Avenue in suburban Detroit Saturday exclusively featuring electric vehicles
• The event, called the Clean Cruise, will bring together industry experts, EV owners, environmentalists and members of the public to talk all things EV in downtown Ferndale
• EV education is a main theme of the event, which experts say is critical to support the EV transition, made pressing by worsening climate change threats

Rev your electric “engines”: The inaugural Clean Cruise, exclusively showcasing electric vehicles, is hitting the Motor City’s famed Woodward Avenue on Saturday. 

Not to be confused with Detroit’s iconic Woodward Dream Cruise, the world’s largest car cruise, which takes place two weeks later, on Aug. 17, and attracts about 1 million visitors and more than 40,000 cars. 

While the Clean Cruise isn’t affiliated with the Dream Cruise, it does play off the idea. Instead of highlighting classic cars fueled by gasoline or diesel, all of the cruisers will be EVs.

For the event sponsors — Michigan Electric Vehicle Alliance, Moms Clean Air Force, EDF Action, Sierra Club and Tesla Owners Club — an EV future isn’t an if but a when. 

“Whether people push back on it or not, the EV transition is happening,” said Tina Catron, state field organizer for EDF Action, an environmental advocacy group.

She said the event will “uplift the transition to electric transportation in Michigan,” the epicenter of the U.S. automotive industry. 

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To celebrate all things EV, environmentalists and other experts, EV owners and members of the public will gather on 9 Mile Road in downtown Ferndale at 11 a.m.

The free EV car show will feature speeches from sponsors, chances to speak with EV owners, games and vendor booths. At 3 p.m., EVs will parade down Woodward Avenue between 9 Mile and 14 Mile. 

An homage to history, looking to the future

Like a classic car cruise, the event will showcase the coolest of the cool cars.

But all of those cars will be EVs, highlighting the newest innovations in the industry instead of paying tribute to the old. 

Michael Lary, the Dream Cruise board president, said the Dream Cruise is about “celebrating all things automotive,” while the Clean Cruise has a narrower focus.

Catron, a Clean Cruise organizer, put it this way: “The Dream Cruise is the history of cars. We are the future of cars.”

It’s a future that’s supported by automakers, the Whitmer administration and environmentalists. 

Michigan’s Big Three automakers — Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Stellantis — are electrifying many of their products to reach ambitious EV targets. Ford has said it wants half of its sales to be EVs by 2030. General Motors has committed to all-electric sales by 2035 but is pulling back EV production amid slow sales. 

The industry push is spurred by political pressure and looming competition from overseas automakers. 

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants 2 million electric vehicles on Michigan roads by 2030, while President Joe Biden’s administration recently set emissions rules that aim to shift U.S. vehicle production to mostly electric or hybrid by 2032, part of a broader goal for 100 percent EV production by 2035.

These goals are part of a larger effort to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by midcentury. If they aren’t met, scientists warn, there could be catastrophic effects such as deadly heat waves, rising sea levels, wildfires and megastorms.  

Tailpipe fumes lower air quality, especially in big cities like Detroit. But only 3% of Michigan car buyers today are choosing EVs. 

This may come down to the higher price of EVs or uncertainty about what it’s like to own an EV. 

Ever thought about going electric? 

The Clean Cruise will play a role in the educational efforts to make the EV transition possible, said cruise organizers. 

Amanda Robert, network manager at Michigan Climate Action Network, a co-sponsor of the event, said people who are nervous about buying EVs because of range anxiety or concerns about battery degradation or fires, don’t know enough about them. 

The Clean Cruise will hopefully ease those concerns, she said. 

“Cars are a really important part of our lives,” said Robert, who comes from a family of Detroit autoworkers, so it only makes sense that people would want all the information before buying an EV and changing their routine. 

With the help of dozens of EV owners who will be at the event to answer any questions regarding their experience with going electric. 

They’ll answer questions like, “How do I find a charger?” “What’s the IRS tax credit?” “Can you go on road trips with an EV?” and “What does it feel like to drive an EV?”

One of those EV owners, Kelli Sloan, secretary of the Tesla Owners Club of Michigan, plans to be at the event answering questions about her and her husband’s Tesla Model 3, Model Y and newly bought Cybertruck, which they recently took on a road trip to California. 

“There are a lot of people who are just looking at potentially putting an electric vehicle into their household for the first time,” said Sloan. “And they just need their questions answered.”

EV owners wanting to display their cars at the event and vendors interested in having a table at the event can still sign up on the Clean Cruise website to participate. 

Additional information about the event can also be found on the website.