Another electric vehicle owner is on the road to savings after joining Roanoke Electric Co-op’s EV Pilot Program.
Veteran mechanic and co-op member-owner, Harold Miller, recently purchased a 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV from Strickland Auto Group of Ahoskie – earning him a spot on the co-op’s exclusive roster.
Miller thanked Roanoke Electric for assisting him in the purchase. The co-op’s EV Pilot Program offers prospective electric vehicle owners up to $5,000 towards purchasing an EV – courtesy of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation. “They helped me buy this and even let me know where I could find one,” he noted.
Miller has long been a proponent of electric vehicles, dating back to the 1990s when he led the renowned EV program at the now closed Northampton County High School-East. 
“That was the first time I’d ever worked on anything electric. It started with a golf cart. Just started tinkering around with a few ideas,” Miller recalled.
The former high school auto mechanics teacher became one of the visionary pioneers behind the nationally acclaimed EV program nearly 30 years ago. That program was the subject of a 2004 book – Electric Dreams, written by Caroline Kettlewell, and tells the story of the team of high school students competing with other more affluent schools to build and race an electric car.
Marshall Cherry, the co-op’s President and CEO, said he recalls the first time he met Miller.
“One of the first community programs that I led when I first came to Roanoke Electric in the early 1990s was a partnership with Harold Miller and his EV program at Northampton-East,” Cherry shared. “I started there in 1993 and Mr. Miller came in looking for local sponsorship.”
Cherry noted that Miller is a man who was ahead of his time. “He was teaching his kids in high school about how electric vehicles were clean energy alternatives to those that burn fossil fuel. And look at where we are today….the United States has finally caught up with Harold Miller’s vision,” Cherry added.
With seven participants now enrolled in the EV Pilot Program, the co-op is currently seeking additional member-owners to join the ranks of Miller and others. The first ten to sign up will also become part of the co-op’s EV Ambassador Leadership Program, designed to promote the many benefits of owning an electric vehicle.
For more information about the co-op’s EV Pilot Program, call 252-209-2236 or visit www.roanokeelectric.com/ev. Member-owners may also schedule a test drive in the co-op’s electric vehicle.