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Hello and welcome to MTE's Plugged in podcast.

I'm Amy Byers, and today we're taking you to MTE's 4th Annual EV Car Club Supercharged Cruise Inn.

This event was held on September 13th in Murfreesboro at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce.

It was a day full of energy, excitement and community.

From EV test drives to live music, to good food, to great conversation, there was something for everyone.

And of course, we had a chance to not only talk with some of our EV Clark Club members, but we also introduced a new member of our EV team here at mte.

Let's hear from them all now.

So we are here today at MTE's 4th Annual EV Supercharged Cruise Inn.

And joining me is Heidi.

And Heidi, I'm so excited to have you here and to introduce you to everybody.

This is your first big event as part of the MTE team.

So first of all, tell us your new role at mte.

Yeah.

So I'm Heidi Zaima and I am the EV Analyst and Resource specialist at mte.

So, brand new role.

I've only been here for a few months, but I'm excited to be here.

So.

And we're, we're so excited to have you.

So for the last few years, you know, Brandon's been the EV champion and I've been helping Brandon, but.

But both of us have our other jobs that we do, so we, it's kind of like a side thing we're doing with the EV.

So to have somebody on board that's dedicated to EVs, dedicated to the car club and to all the EV programs, our drive EV programs that we have, we're super excited about that.

So we know that you're going to do a lot of fun, exciting things and I know we'll have future podcasts with you where we'll kind of talk about those things.

But what do you think so far.

With your first EV cruise in?

I mean, it's great.

Being able to interact with all the members has been really great.

And just seeing all the different types of cars that are out here, I didn't.

I've never been to this event before, so didn't know what to expect.

But the turnout is great and it's just, it's good energy.

So if anybody has a question about EVs, what do they need to do?

They can reach out to me directly.

So by email.

My email is heidi zymate.com I have.

A direct phone number that I'll share.

On the Facebook page and you can Also, reach me on the Facebook page.

That's a place where people can ask questions.

Other members might chime in, but I'm very accessible, and I'm here as a resource for anyone, EV owner or not, I'm here to answer your questions.

And so the Facebook is actually a group.

A Facebook group.

The EV Car Cub Facebook group.

So if you will go into the search bar on Facebook and search mte evcar Club, that'll pop up.

Join the club, we'll accept you, and you can talk directly to Heidi.

So we're really enjoying this day and so glad you're part of our team.

Yeah, I'm excited to be here.

So I'm here with Matt.

Matt is not only new to the EV car club, but he's new to having an EV.

So we're here with his 2025 Ford Mustang Mach E. And the reason why, what drew me to you, Matt, was the color.

So how long have you had your Mach E?

I got it at the end of June, so a little over two months.

And you just told me you have been a member of the car club for two months.

So you bought your EV and you joined the car club.

And then luckily we have this event and you can come show it off.

Perfect.

Perfect.

So tell me a little bit about the color.

I have not seen this color before.

Yeah, so this is Ford's Eruption green.

I think it was new on the mach e for 2025.

That was one of the things that really drew me to this specific car.

I saw different colors over the.

Over the spring and researched it.

And when I saw the green, I said that that's going to be what I.

What I've got to get.

So when I look around here, I see a lot of grays, a lot of whites, one little red, you know, and that's typically when you.

When you.

The people that I know that have EVs, they're black, white, gray.

You make some navies occasionally, but you don't normally see something so bright.

So I love the color.

Like I said, it's what drew me to you.

And welcome to the EV family.

And thanks for talking with us today.

All right, well, I'm here with Bruce to talk about his lucid.

I know when you drove in, it turned my head.

I was like, oh, that's so pretty.

And so I want to talk about your car, but let's talk about you first.

You just told me you're.

Of course, we're in Murfreesboro here today.

And you came from Lebanon.

I did.

I Live out in Lebanon.

Love it out there.

And so you are a member of the car club, but you told me you've had your EV a while before you joined the car club.

So how did you find out about the car club?

Well, you know, it's my first ev, and I was just online and looking around and seeing what kind of resources were available in the area, and I came across the car club, and I thought, well, this is perfect.

So I just signed up and joined.

Well, good.

Well, we're glad that you came.

And is this your first event, or did you come to the one last year?

No, this is my first event.

Your first event because we were in Lebanon last year.

Right.

And I was out of town.

Oh, bummer.

Well, we're glad you're here.

Tell us a little bit about your lucid.

Sure.

I've got the lucid Air.

Lucid makes two models.

They have the air and they have the gravity.

Gravity is an suv.

The Air is a sedan.

And then it has different levels on the sedan.

So they have the air.

The pure and the.

I'm sorry, the pure, the touring and the grand Touring.

This is a grand touring, and so I absolutely, absolutely love it.

It's my favorite car I've ever driven.

So with Lucid, are there dealerships around, or is this an order online situation?

This is an order online situation.

They do have service centers around.

The closest service center to Nashville is in Atlanta.

It just opened up about a year ago.

So they do have service centers, but they come to my house.

All my service has been done in my driveway.

I had to take my car anywhere.

The only time I would have to take my car in is if they had to do some.

Put on a lift and do some work like that.

But they have a mobile service unit, and they show up in my driveway and take care of what needs to be taken care of.

Oh, that's awesome.

I haven't heard that that's a good thing about Lucy.

Well, thank you for sharing us, sharing your car with us, and thank you for coming today.

Well, thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.

So I'm here with Marion and Donovan and their beautiful BMW i4.

And when you drove in, everybody was like, oh, look, I mean, it always turns head.

So tell us a little bit.

How long have you had this car?

He got it in, actually the day before Christmas in December of 2023.

2023.

So that's a very nice Christmas presentation.

Yes.

He comes home.

It's my husband's car really, but he couldn't make it today.

And he had already said, I'm taking it.

It needs to go.

I already told him I would.

So me, my grandson, and my daughter, we said, yep, we'll take it.

It doesn't matter.

We like car shows anyway.

Yeah.

And, I mean, you have already been, like, given the tour of the car, right?

You're the spokesperson for the car, huh?

Yes.

Why do you like this car?

Because it's electric and it's my favorite color blue.

Oh.

Because it's electric and it's favorite color blue.

So there you go.

Well, thank you so much for bringing it today.

I know everybody is.

They're probably waiting for us to stop talking so they can come and look at it.

So I hope you enjoy your day here.

I will.

Thanks.

All right, so I'm here with Dean.

And I flagged you down.

When you got out of the Rivian, you had been on the ride and drive.

Yes.

So we have got a Rivian here today.

We've got a Cadillac Lyrica and the Cybertruck.

Yeah, we're riding them around.

So are you.

Do you have an evidence?

I do not own an EV yet, but I do have a Rivian R2 on reservation, which I'm hoping will come out in 2026.

Okay, so you had to order early.

Yes.

And you were getting a little taste.

Because you got out of the Rivian, you were getting a little taste of what you were getting.

I saw the Rivian there, and I've taken a few test drives before, and I needed to get into one again to have fun.

Why do you want an ev?

Probably environmental reasons, I would say, to.

To reduce gasoline and the cost of that.

And I'm able to, once I have an ev, charge better at home and save some money.

Oh, yeah.

Compared to what gasoline would cost.

And they're also really fun to drive.

And they're really fun to drive.

Yes, I think we get that.

I get that a lot.

Like, I love just the.

Me, too.

The thrill of driving kind of brought that back.

Yeah, I know.

I really wasn't ever into cars, but once evs really started to become mainstream, I guess you would say there's just fun.

And I'm super into them now, so.

Yeah, well.

And is this your first car club event?

It is not.

This is probably my third one maybe.

So you've been down.

This is our fourth.

So you've been to.

Almost.

I've been to all of them but one.

Yeah.

Great.

So we're glad you're here.

Hope you enjoy the day.

All right.

Thank you very Much.

Thank you.

All right, we're going to start this.

Before we do, I just want to introduce you all to Heidi Zyma.

If you haven't met Heidi, we just recently did had a posting for a position.

EV.

What?

Analyst and Resource Specialist.

A mouthful.

EV Analyst and Resource specialist.

And I met Heidi when she was at Rivian.

I knew she was going to be a great fit when she was interested in the role.

I'm so thankful to have her on the team.

She has already worked with Amy so closely to put this together.

And I couldn't be more thrilled with what I know is going to be the future of the car club.

And I need to just thank you all for your grace with me because I know this club wants to do more and I've just not had the ability to do that.

And I know that Heidi's going to bring in this new energy that we need and I'm thrilled.

I'm very excited.

The whole success of this car club is because of you all and she's going to feed off of that.

So give us your feedback on how we can make this better and what other events we can do.

But Heidi, I'm going to turn it over to you.

All right, well, hi everyone, and welcome again to the fourth annual Supercharged Cruise Inn.

I'm so glad you chose to spend your Saturday morning with us.

Like Brandon said, like I met many of you, my name is Heidi Zima and I'm the EV Analyst and Resource Specialist here at mte.

And I've been in my role for a long three months.

So very tenured.

But I'm excited to get to know you all, get to grow this club with you all and learn alongside of you.

If this is your first event or you're not yet a member, welcome.

You don't have to have an EV to be a part of this club.

We welcome everybody.

Whether you're an early adopter, curious about EVs, looking for a community.

Or just.

Passionate about cars in general, we're happy to have you here.

As a club, we focus on building connections, sharing knowledge, clearing up common misconceptions around EVs, and then learning how to be thoughtful stewards of our electric grid.

Throughout the day, please feel free to grab me and chat with me.

I think I've spoken to almost everybody here.

I'm happy to connect with you, answer any questions that you have, celebrate your new ev, whatever it may be.

I also have business cards over at the registration table, so you can pick up one of those and contact me through email or phone.

I'm here to be a resource for you all.

And that's a wrap on MTE's fourth annual EV car Club Supercharged Cruise In.

Thanks for listening today and also make sure to tune in next time because we've got some exciting news about the future of our podcast.

For more information about MTE's Drive EV programs or the EV Car Club, visit us at driveev.

Com.

Until next time, plug in, power up and drive safe.