Leonard Van Ryn

Working as a professional in the IT world, Leonard had a passing interest in EVs until July 2013, when he took a test drive in Tesla Model S in Silicon Valley. He was absolutely amazed at what an EV could be. He subsequently purchased a Tesla Model S, ultimately driving it 175,000 miles over the next seven years where it became a conversation piece wherever he went.

Leonard and his wife used the Tesla as their only car, which included numerous road trips across the US and Canada. During this time, (including a stint as an Uber driver), he had the unique experience of talking with literally thousands of people about EVs and answering their many questions. During his time with Uber, Leonard witnessed myriad riders enjoy their first ride in an EV while they peppered him with questions about his experiences with the technology.

Leonard also is an avid follower of EV news and developments, digesting EV news and developments in the form of blogs, books, online news, videos, following Youtubers, etc. At one point, he was asked by Tesla to write his customer story for their blog (https://www.tesla.com/customer-stories/zero-emissions-zero-cost). Seeing the potential of the technology, he was an early investor in Tesla, and has followed CEO Elon Musk and the company closely since 2013. Through these experiences, Leonard has experienced many common misconceptions about EVs, which prompted him to co-write this book.

Leonard has been an IT Auditor for the last 20 years, which has provided him with a rich experience writing factual and unbiased working papers and audit reports featuring the technical details of IT audit findings that are then translated into clear language for submission to the executive management teams of a Fortune 500 company. His goal for this book would be to digest the complexities of EVs into something that is easy to grasp but has the rigor of being thorough, complete, well researched and supported.