Our Story
Building on Arizona’s EV Roots
Arizona’s electric vehicle community did not begin with us.
Long before electric vehicles became mainstream, Jim Stack was helping educate Arizonans about electric transportation through the Phoenix Electric Auto Association, where he served as president. Jim was an early and dedicated EV advocate who built a community of enthusiasts at a time when electric vehicles were unfamiliar to most drivers and the choices available to consumers were extraordinarily limited.
For decades, Jim helped introduce electric transportation to the public through education, outreach and EV events. His contributions were recognized nationally in 2020, when Plug In America honored him for two decades of EV advocacy and for organizing dozens of educational events associated with National Drive Electric Week and Earth Day.
Jim organized public events where EV owners displayed their vehicles and talked with people interested in electric transportation. John Martinson attended some of those early Phoenix EAA events, years before Valley of the Sun EVA existed.
Those gatherings demonstrated something that remains fundamental to our work today:
As the years passed, Jim increasingly focused his efforts on online education and forums. At the same time, metropolitan Phoenix was growing exponentially and the electric vehicle world was changing dramatically. EVs were moving from a small community of early adopters toward the mainstream, creating an opportunity to build upon the foundation Jim and other early Arizona EV enthusiasts had established.
A Chance Meeting—and a Phone Call
By 2022, John Martinson had essentially retired after 34 years in the iced tea business and was spending some of his time volunteering with Scottsdale’s McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. But his interest in electric vehicles went back much further.
John had been an early EV adopter. In 2000, he became one of the drivers of the GM EV1, one of the pioneering purpose-built electric vehicles of the modern era. More than two decades later, he was driving a Tesla Model 3.
Peter Culin, an entrepreneur a generation younger than John, was busy building his logistics business and raising a young family. He, too, drove a Tesla Model 3.
John and Peter met at a Tesla owners’ meetup and quickly became friends. As they got to know one another, they discovered an extraordinary coincidence: both had grown up in the same county in New York and later spent their adolescent years in neighboring towns in the same county in Connecticut before eventually making their way to Arizona.
Their shared interest in electric vehicles gave them another connection—but neither was planning to start an EV organization.
That changed at a volunteer training session at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy.
John met another Conservancy volunteer, Raejean Fellows, who was driving a Tesla Model S. Naturally, they started talking about electric vehicles. When the training ended, they exchanged contact information and went their separate ways.
About two months later, Raejean called John.
There was something she hadn’t mentioned during their earlier conversation: she was past president of the Electric Vehicle Association.
Then she made an unexpected proposal:
John called Peter and asked if he would like to help start an Electric Vehicle Association chapter in Scottsdale.
Peter’s answer was immediate:
Scottsdale EVA Is Born
Before moving forward, John reached out to Jim Stack.
Jim and the Phoenix Electric Auto Association had been serving Arizona’s EV community for years, and John wanted to make sure Jim was comfortable with another Electric Vehicle Association chapter being established in the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Jim’s response captured the collaborative spirit of the EV community:
With Jim’s encouragement, Martinson and Culin founded the Scottsdale Electric Vehicle Association on Earth Day 2022 as a local chapter of the national nonprofit Electric Vehicle Association (EVA).
The new chapter didn’t replace Arizona’s earlier EV community. It built upon it.
Jim Stack and the Phoenix Electric Auto Association had demonstrated years earlier the power of bringing EV owners and the public together. Scottsdale EVA took that idea into a new era in which electric vehicles were becoming increasingly accessible and the Phoenix metropolitan area was experiencing extraordinary growth.
Volunteers brought their EVs to community events, answered questions and shared their real-world experiences. The chapter expanded the model with regular meetups and rallies, larger EV showcases and Ride & Drives that allowed prospective EV drivers not only to see electric vehicles, but to get behind the wheel and experience them firsthand.
EV owners sharing their experience with Arizona communities.
Participation soon extended well beyond Scottsdale. Eventually, the name no longer reflected the community we were actually serving.
Once again, before making a change, John called Jim.
He explained that Scottsdale EVA was considering becoming the Valley of the Sun Electric Vehicle Association, reflecting its increasingly metropolitan reach. And once again, Jim welcomed the growth.
His philosophy hadn’t changed:
With that encouragement, Scottsdale EVA became the Valley of the Sun Electric Vehicle Association (VOTSEVA), continuing as a chapter of the national nonprofit Electric Vehicle Association while serving EV owners and enthusiasts throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.
The relationship wasn’t about replacing what had come before. It was about building on it and expanding the community.
What Jim Stack and other early EV pioneers helped begin was entering a new generation.
And the model worked.
An Early Partnership Takes Root
As the fledgling Valley of the Sun EVA began to grow, another relationship would prove important to its future.
In 2023, John met Tanya Hughes, Community Activation Strategist Sr., Community Partnerships for Salt River Project (SRP), at an event they were both supporting at the Arizona Science Center in downtown Phoenix. Tanya immediately recognized that an organization built around EV owners, volunteers, public education and hands-on community events could complement SRP’s work with its customers and communities.
SRP itself has a distinctive place in Arizona: it is a community-based, not-for-profit public power utility, providing electricity and water to much of the Phoenix metropolitan area.
Tanya recognized something that would become central to our approach: collaboration could allow both organizations to accomplish more together than either could accomplish alone.
DRIVE Electric Arizona and SRP working side-by-side at the Fountain Festival of Fine Arts & Crafts.
That meeting began what would become a long and fruitful relationship between SRP and Valley of the Sun EVA, with SRP providing sponsorship and support to our then-fledgling organization and collaborating with us on opportunities to bring EV education directly into Arizona communities.
For Valley of the Sun EVA, the relationship was significant for reasons beyond financial support. Having an established Arizona utility recognize the value of what a young, volunteer-driven organization was building helped demonstrate that our grassroots model could work alongside major community institutions.
It also helped shape an approach that continues today: bring together EV owners who can speak from personal experience with utilities, communities and organizations that have the resources and reach to create meaningful public engagement.
The relationship with SRP became one of our earliest examples of the partnership model that would eventually become fundamental to DRIVE Electric Arizona.
From a Local EV Community to a Statewide Opportunity
As Valley of the Sun EVA grew, it became increasingly clear that the need for EV education extended far beyond metropolitan Phoenix.
Communities throughout Arizona were asking many of the same questions about EV affordability, charging, range, infrastructure and everyday ownership. At the same time, utilities, municipalities, businesses, universities, transportation organizations and Native Nations were beginning to prepare for a rapidly changing transportation landscape.
Arizona needed something that could connect these efforts statewide.
That opportunity came through the Valley of the Sun Clean Cities Coalition, a nonprofit organization working within the national Clean Cities and Communities network. Clean Cities and Communities is a U.S. Department of Energy initiative that supports locally based coalitions around the country working to advance cleaner and more efficient transportation choices.
The Valley of the Sun Clean Cities Coalition receives support through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities and Communities program and became an important local partner in connecting our grassroots EV work with a much broader transportation network.
Another DOE-supported initiative, DRIVE Electric USA, offered us a three-year grant and guidance to develop a statewide organization. DRIVE Electric USA was created to help states build sustainable statewide “Drive Electric” programs by bringing together EV owners, utilities, communities, businesses, dealerships, fleets and other stakeholders.
Working with DRIVE Electric USA and the Valley of the Sun Clean Cities Coalition, Martinson and Culin established DRIVE Electric Arizona, which was incorporated as an Arizona nonprofit organization in January 2024.
Like Valley of the Sun EVA, DRIVE Electric Arizona is powered by volunteers. DRIVE Electric Arizona has no paid staff; it is an all-volunteer Arizona nonprofit organization.
To provide the financial and administrative infrastructure needed by a growing statewide organization, DRIVE Electric Arizona operates under the fiscal sponsorship of the Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona (TAPAZ), a nonprofit initiative of Vitalyst Health Foundation. That relationship allows DRIVE Electric Arizona to receive and administer charitable funding while remaining focused on its volunteer-driven mission and statewide programs.
What began with two EV owners saying “Let’s do it” had grown into a statewide effort supported by a network of nonprofit, public-service and community partners.
Two Organizations. Two Roles. One Mission.
Today, Valley of the Sun EVA and DRIVE Electric Arizona remain separate organizations, but they work closely together.
Their organizational structures are different.
Valley of the Sun Electric Vehicle Association is a local chapter of the national nonprofit Electric Vehicle Association. It is fundamentally a community of EV owners and enthusiasts, creating the social and volunteer foundation for EV education in Arizona’s primary population and economic hub through rallies, meetups, showcases, Ride & Drives and other community activities.
DRIVE Electric Arizona is an independent, all-volunteer Arizona nonprofit organization, fiscally sponsored by the Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona (TAPAZ), an initiative of Vitalyst Health Foundation. It operates at the statewide level, building partnerships, developing programs, supporting regional chapters and connecting communities with utilities, businesses, universities, transportation organizations, Native Nations and other stakeholders.
Different structures. Different geographic roles. But a closely shared purpose.
Put simply:
Valley of the Sun EVA builds community in Arizona’s primary population and economic hub, while DRIVE Electric Arizona builds statewide connections and capacity.
And each makes the other stronger.
Valley of the Sun EVA provides something extraordinarily valuable to DRIVE Electric Arizona: people with real-world EV experience who are willing to share it with others. Its volunteers bring their vehicles to events, answer questions, lead rallies and help prospective EV drivers understand what owning an EV is actually like.
DRIVE Electric Arizona provides the broader network that allows that volunteer energy to reach farther. It develops partnerships, secures sponsorships and grants, creates educational initiatives, works with communities and organizations, and helps establish local leadership throughout Arizona.
Together, the organizations can take an idea from a conversation to a partnership, and ultimately to an event where Arizonans can get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle and decide for themselves.
Growing Across Arizona
The model that began in the Valley is now helping build EV communities throughout Arizona.
DRIVE Electric Arizona works with regional and community leaders to develop local chapters and initiatives that reflect the very different needs and opportunities of Arizona’s communities—from metropolitan areas to rural communities, Historic Route 66, Northern and Southern Arizona, and Arizona’s Native Nations.
For rural Arizona, transportation electrification represents more than a change in how vehicles are powered. It is also an economic development and tourism opportunity.
As more travelers take road trips in electric vehicles, communities with convenient and reliable charging infrastructure are better positioned to attract them. Unlike a traditional fuel stop that may last only a few minutes, EV charging can give travelers time to have lunch, shop, visit an attraction, explore a downtown or historic district, or stay overnight.
This is particularly important along Historic Route 66 and Arizona’s other tourism corridors. Communities such as Kingman, Seligman, Williams, Flagstaff, Winslow and Holbrook have long depended on travelers stopping rather than simply passing through. Making those communities convenient destinations for EV drivers can help bring a new generation of road-trippers to local restaurants, hotels, attractions and businesses.
It is also why DRIVE Electric Arizona has made Route 66 EV education and outreach an important part of our statewide work. As Historic Route 66 enters its next century, transportation is changing again. Helping its communities prepare for electric travelers can help ensure that America’s most famous highway remains an important tourism and economic corridor for the next 100 years.
The same opportunity exists throughout rural Arizona. From Northern Arizona and the Verde Valley to Southern Arizona and Arizona’s Native Nations, transportation electrification can support tourism, strengthen local businesses and expand economic opportunity while giving rural residents access to the transportation choices increasingly available in metropolitan areas.
Our chapter model is designed around that idea. Rather than trying to run everything from Phoenix, our goal is to develop local leaders, local volunteers and lasting local relationships, with chapters working together across Arizona.
Local communities understand their own needs and opportunities best. DRIVE Electric Arizona helps connect them with the people, organizations, expertise and resources that can help turn those opportunities into action.
That approach allows a statewide organization to remain rooted in the communities it serves.
Powered by Volunteers and Partnerships
Neither organization could accomplish its mission alone.
Our work is made possible by volunteers who contribute their time, knowledge and vehicles, and by utilities, municipalities, businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions, sponsors and community organizations that provide resources, expertise and opportunities to collaborate.
At the heart of DRIVE Electric Arizona is an extraordinary volunteer Board of Directors. Its members bring experience and relationships from across transportation, energy, engineering, sustainability, business, community leadership and electric vehicle advocacy. Like the organization itself, they serve without compensation—contributing their expertise, professional networks and countless hours to help guide DRIVE Electric Arizona’s strategy and expand its impact throughout the state.
That volunteer leadership has been essential to our ability to grow from an idea into a statewide organization. Our Board members do far more than govern; they help build partnerships, lead programs and chapters, support events, open doors within their communities and professions, and turn opportunities into action.
The organizations that helped make this work possible reflect that public-service orientation—from the national nonprofit Electric Vehicle Association, to SRP, a not-for-profit public power utility, to the nonprofit Valley of the Sun Clean Cities Coalition, the DOE-supported DRIVE Electric USA initiative, and TAPAZ and Vitalyst Health Foundation.
Together, Valley of the Sun EVA and DRIVE Electric Arizona have created an unusual model: grassroots EV owners, an extraordinary volunteer Board of Directors, statewide institutions and community leaders working together toward a common purpose.
One organization brings the people.
The other builds the connections.
And an extraordinary group of volunteer leaders helps turn those connections into action.
Together, we’re building Arizona’s electric transportation community—one conversation, one community and one test drive at a time.