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Recharge Wrap-up: Kia Soul EV wins MotorWeek award, Virgin Hotels offering Tesla Model S rides

The Kia Soul EV has been awarded a MotorWeek's Drivers' Choice Award. Winning the honor for Best Eco-Friendly Vehicle, "The Kia Soul EV is the perfect EV," according to MotorWeek host and executive producer John Davis. "It has more power and range compared to other affordable all-electric vehicles. Plus, its funky style makes driving the Kia Soul EV really cool." The Soul EV has a driving range of about 93 miles on a single charge, and offers an interior roomy and comfortable enough to earn MotorWeek's praise. Read more in the press release below. Virgin Hotels will provide its Chicago guests car services in the Tesla Model S. Guests can get rides to and from the hotel in a red, dual-motor Model S P85D. Virgin Hotels offers the EV services as part of its sustainability program. "Tesla is the hottest electric car on the road right now, and we're elated to provide our hotel guests with this chic house-car service while also helping to reduce our carbon footprint," says Virgin Hotels vice president of sales and marketing Doug Carrillo. "For Virgin Hotels it's important to provide services our guests desire but do so with the environment in mind whenever possible." Hyundai has announced the first lease of its Tucson Fuel Cell in Canada. Hyundai chose the Vancouver couple, Jennifer Ma and Clayton Crawley, as the first buyers in part because they live near both a dealership and a fueling station, the latter of which sources its hydrogen from a chemical company that produces the gas as a byproduct. Crawley, whose children love the beach, says, "Getting there while reducing our environmental impact will be awesome." Read more at Automotive News. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is providing $30 million in grant money for Proterra electric buses. Six transit agencies will buy 28 of the EV buses for a variety of projects. Proterra CEO Ryan Popple calls the funding a "tremendous validation for the company." In total, the FTA is handing out $55 million in grant money for the deployment of American-made electric buses. Four other agencies will receive buses from BAE Systems and New Flyer as part of the program. Read more at Charged EVs. Kia Soul EV Wins 2015 MotorWeek Drivers' Choice Award Kia's First All-Electric Vehicle Wins Best Eco-Friendly Honor - Soul EV praised for funky style, power, range and roomy interior - MotorWeek's annual list of winners serves as a buying guide for the show's nationwide audience CHICAGO, Feb.

Refuel, TMC Connect conspire on most electric weekend ever

Refuel is back for 2014 and so is TMC Connect. This year the two events have logistically coordinated to make the July 18th weekend quite possibly the most electric ever. Refuel by Speed Ventures has been introducing owners of electric cars, motorcycles, and even go-karts to the wonders of the iconic Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the past six years, giving them the opportunity to explore its wondrous twists and turns at speed. For the more competitive-minded, the SportElectric TT allows participants to turn up the wick and race against the clock for trophies and glory. This year, they've even added an autocross course for your tire-squealing pleasure. This year, they've even added an autocross course for your tire-squealing pleasure. TMC Connect is a symposium for Tesla enthusiasts organized by the popular Tesla Motors Club forum. Having held its inaugural event last year under the Teslive banner just down the road from the Calfornia automaker's Fremont factory, the the conference has opted to motor southward to beautiful Monterey and let attendees take advantage of the coinciding Refuel event. Sunday's fun track time will be preceded by an informative Saturday, with number of speakers including Tesla's VP of Business Development Diarmuid O'Connell and Chelsea Sexton, the world's best known EV advocate and industry adviser. The concurrence of the two events ensures that there will be a large number of participants in on-track events, and so Refuel organizers have set up two different run groups. While there might be a sea of Teslas, we are also certain there will be quite a number of other, unique battery-powered vehicles on hand to check out. You can get more details from the official press release below or by visiting the Refuel website. If you are interested in attending TMC Connect, you can get more information and register via its website. REFUEL Welcomes Electric Vehicles to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Speed Ventures presents the 6th Annual REFUEL Clean Power Motorsports Event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California on Sunday, July 20, 2014. For the sixth year running, Speed Ventures, the leading recreational motorsports club with operations in California and Nevada, welcomes electric cars and motorcycles to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California to showcase cutting-edge clean transportation technology in a motorsports setting.

Tesla Trade-up now offering Pedego e-bike

Three years ago, an Ottawa resident embarked on an effort to turn a $30 camera into a Tesla Roadster electric vehicle purely through the magic of bartering. Today, he's halfway to his goal. Sort of. Martin Provost, known for his Tesla Trade Up blog, has traded his way up to a $2,000 Pedego Comfort Cruiser electric bike, and it came from the CEO of Pedego, no less. If you're keeping track, that's two wheels out of the four that he's taken down. See, half way. In mid-2011, Provost set out on what he calls his "quest to become an EV owner through the kindness of humanity." Starting with that camera, he's since engineered 10 trades. The process included bartering his way through items like a computer, an electric guitar, a VIP brewery tour and a software suite valued at $3,000. Of course, he now has a $2,000 e-bike, so we hope he doesn't go too far backwards. The gentleman also has taken his official leap into EV ownership, securing a Smart Electric Drive for a lease rate of $100 a month. He's big on the three-year lease contract because it'll expire around the same time Tesla may start putting out its $35,000 vehicle. Which is irrelevant if he actually scores that Roadster, but it's nice to know he has a backup plan, just in case.