The roles James and I took on for this year’s Clean Cruise, was welcoming the participants, decorating the cars with Clean Cruise magnets and flags, and guiding them to park in the shaded area of Royal Oak’s Memorial Park.
After the parade down Woodward Avenue, we collected the magnets and flags for the next edition. Because there is always… a next edition, once you enjoyed being together with people who believe in electric mobility and are always open to sharing their experiences.
Participants
Most participants came from the Motor City area, with two remarkable exceptions who traveled long distances:
- Kia EV9 arriving from Michigan’s west coast (~200 miles)
- Model Y LR built in Shanghai, arriving from Canada after a 250 miles trip.
“Model Y rough” – lifted suspension and off-road tires
The participation fee (25 USD) was paid online, and the prizes awarded based on visitor votes were:
- 50 USD – first place
- 30 USD – second place
- 25 USD – third place
The police-escorted parade was free to join, and at the scheduled departure time a few more owners arrived to join the cruise on Woodward.
In total, I counted 39 cars, some very familiar from our events in Romania: Tesla Model S, 3, and Y, Ford Mach-E, IONIQ 5, VW ID.4, and Kia EV6.
Others were more exotic or not sold in Europe, such as:
- Cybertruck
- Cadillac Optiq
- Chevy Equinox
- Honda Prologue
- Dodge Charger
- Rivian R1S
“Electro-zombies” stole the show
To the surprise of many, participants also brought “electro-zombie” models from companies that promised a lot before going bankrupt. At least four caught my attention, two of which were public favorites and won first and second place:
- Fisker Ocean
- Brighthouse van
A third company — still present in Europe but recently expelled from the U.S. — was Polestar, represented by two loyal customers with Polestar 2 and 4.
Yes, the car without a rear window — the one I heavily praised after the first test drives — was purchased with a 25,000 USD discount after Polestar announced its exit from the U.S. market, along with a written promise that service and spare parts would remain available for 10 years, as required by law.
The mayor of neighboring Pleasant Ridge arrived with a Taycan Cross Turismo, another „dead model” unfortunately removed from Porsche’s lineup.
A pending story
I briefly mentioned that at the warmup event, held in Ann Arbor four weeks ago, a Model S with 411,000 miles was present — still running on its original battery.
We met again, and I asked the owner to allow me to take a photo of the odometer, as is customary in the Electromobility project. He was very open, and shared lots of interesting stories before the parade began.
In the meantime, the odometer had climbed to: 414,518 miles on the original battery (!!!)
Final thoughts
As I mentioned in the introduction of Jamie’s speech, I headed home exhausted from the heat and long day, but with the satisfaction of having lent a helping hand to a cause we, EV owners, truly believe in: leading by example and being open to dialogue with passionate, undecided, or skeptical people.
We learn something from each of them, discover details about new models, and exchange questions and answers that we’ll remember at the next event.
Because there will always be another opportunity to share the joy of electric driving!
My lifelong automotive career started with design and testing of ICEs, continued with service and sales, followed by 20 years of global seat design, requirements and knowledge management.
My recent passion for electric vehicles found its home at 24auto.ro and electromobilitate.
