April was a busy month for ACDC. Up Your Voltage 36, SAE Congress, NYC Auto Show and Puerto Rico. All in one month! So what did ACDC learn you might find interesting? Up Your Voltage has now hit a new record. 23,000 hours (960 days) is how much time in just one class series students have studied, researched, grown, experimented, thought, discussed, argued and learned about the cars that have caused more debate than any in history. The ACDC Fleet has driven over 1,000,000 miles in 14 years. I remember my first drive in a brand new Honda Insight, hoping that idle stop would work, as I pulled out of Lundgren Honda with the first hybrid sold in Massachusetts (October 15, 1999) into traffic. Up Your Voltage has become a huge success, not for ACDC, but for those that want hands-on training that is beyond anything they have ever experienced. The students continue to rave about Deb’s caring nature, the cars, equipment and process. It is a very satisfying feeling I have at the end of each class. I flew directly to Detroit at the end of class for SAE congress and met up with Yves Racette, our Canadian trainer. He drove his new 2014 Volt and we had a blast together. The event was, as always, educational and helped both of us know what is coming next. Right after that Deb and I headed for New York City and saw and drove many new EV / PHEV and HEV. The most exciting and affordable car was the Smart EV. Under $12,500 (no typo). Look into that as a commuter car. Lease the battery for $80 a month for 10 years; buy the car for $20,000. $7, 500 of your taxes back from Uncle Sam. Temping as Deb loved it. Then a quick flight on Southwest (The ACDC preferred airline) to San Juan Puerto Rico. In case you forgot it is part of 
the USA. Agnes Perez did her magic and brought in 75 technicians, an interpreter, great food, prizes, a new 2014 Accord HEV and 2014 Prius on a Saturday. It was hot and lively. Great feedback (we had done this before) and Auto Air Parts (our host) was filled with Spanish and English speakers waving our hands and trying to visit at each break. Deb can speak Spanish well enough to get by. I smile a lot and nod my head. Hopefully the government of PR will get EVs here this year with charging stations and incentives. There are plenty of hybrids. I also did a one hour TV show (with a shop owner / tech) as he explained in Spanish what I was saying. This is my third trip to PR in 6 years and before we left I had signed a deal with a well-known technical training center to get them in the HEV – EV – PHEV education business. One last note; ACDC just added one more Hybrid Qualified Shop in San Juan. The month of May looks like just as much travel and fun. Hope to see you all this year somewhere on the road.
