The conversations surrounding vehicle electrification are just as important as the actual construction of electric vehicles. It is the axis of knowledge and action that gives change an opportunity to happen. Sometimes, the conversation and the construction can even go hand-and-hand.
This is a familiar concept for Veronika Wright of Electrified Veronika, which is a social enterprise focused on fueling electric vehicle adoption and spreading awareness about electrification and renewable energy. Education is a key component of the work that Wright does, and the way in which she does this work keeps her busy.
Wright is a content creator, author and electrification consultant. She also has her Ph.D. in technical physics. Wright is originally from Austria where she previously worked for Austrian-based powertrain development and testing company AVL.
“I really just developed a passion while I was doing that,” Wright says. “A passion for batteries and the opportunities that we have with them not only in the transportation sector but also on the energy side. I was super excited, and at the same time I saw that there were lots of challenges still, lots of things we don’t understand even down to the electrochemical level of batteries.”
This is part of the thought process that led her to where she is today, living in Wisconsin and running Electrified Veronika. Wright works on a lot of different projects with Electrified Veronika. She does some consultation work, including work that she is currently excited about revolving around the life cycle of batteries. Additionally, she is working on converting a 1999 Jeep Wrangler to electric.
In addition to all this hands-on work, she also makes content for her various social media platforms to inform her audience about electrification topics as well as the progress she is making on her projects.
“I use social media as a marketing tool just to get my name out there and [show] what I’m doing,” Wright says. “At the same time, I really enjoy combining that with the fact that I can educate people about things that I’ve learned about [through] my expertise that I’ve built up in this space and I always had this educational piece and mindset. It’s just a great way, especially on YouTube, to pass on our adventure [and] the conversion of the Jeep Wrangler and see how excited people are for it.”
Wright says she has received feedback from audiences who are thankful for her transparency. They appreciate being able to see the process, and Wright is happy to show it through her online videos and social media content.
“The educational piece is really important to me,” Wright says. “It’s just a very big opportunity to do that through social media. You can really reach a lot of people and I’m growing more and more and it’s very exciting.”
Another way in which Wright gets information out there is through her book. She wrote “The Drive to Electric,” which explores the opportunities surrounding an electrified future.
“I decided to go out there and just interview all sorts of different experts in different areas that I haven’t covered before,” Wright says. “For example, the charging sector and the energy generation sector … and [I] went out there and interviewed all those incredibly amazing people around the world, so it’s very international."
Through these various interviews, Wright says she spoke with her subjects about their own personal journeys as well as the potential provided by electrification. She says they tackled topics such as the recycling of batteries, the supply of lithium for battery production and how electric vehicle charging works overall.
