One sign that electric vehicles are going mainstream is that more EV-only car shows are starting to pop up around the country.
More than a hundred EV owners signed up to show their rides at a JEA Drive Electric show in Jacksonville, FL on April 16, 2022, including self-proclaimed former Lexus girl Tanya Bolden, who ended up getting a Tesla Model 3 after first thinking it might be too plain for her.
“I got it in 2019 and now I can’t stand other cars because to me there’s too much stuff. So what I didn’t like about it at first is why I love it. The car, it’s just very minimalistic, if that’s the word, I think so, and it’s just all I need. I don’t do carpool anymore and the S was just too much too much car. It was too low for my hips,” said Tanya.
She was referring to Tesla’s larger Model S sedan. Speaking of Tesla, dozens of owners signed up for the show.
The first Rivian R1T sold in Jacksonville was also on display, along with a few Mustang Mach-E EVs, including a Cyber Orange GT-Performance owned by Sergio Rodriguez of St. Marys, Ga. Watch for an evrider.tv episode with Sergio coming soon.
2019 Hyundai Kona owner Eric Boyd was excited to see Hyundai’s latest EV, the Ioniq 5 on display. Although Eric lives in Jacksonville, he bought his Kona in Maryland since Florida dealers weren’t selling it.
Eric says he’s getting about 300 miles to a charge around town and about 240 miles of range on the highway.
“I’ve made numerous trips down to the Orlando area and back. I’ve made a road trip to Homeland Mississippi and it, you know it does take some time,” he said.
Eric said he can understand why some people are hesitant about EV road trips, adding it does take some additional planning.
“Just like you would plan a trip to Disney, and all the stops you’re going to make, all the different restaurants you are going to go, take another 10 or 15 minutes and look up where the EV charging stations are. How many do you need to stop at along the way? What’s your total drive distance going to be? And, just kind of plot out where those are. And even when you get there, does your hotel have a charger available to you? For free – usually – or is there a any other kind of level 2 charger around the area. So there are options out there, you just have to do a little bit extra planning.”
Eric says he’ll never go back to gas if he can help it.
JTA, Jacksonville’s mass transit agency, had one of its electric buses on display along with an autonomous electric people mover that’s in development to be rolled out along Downtown Jacksonville’s Bay Street Innovation Corridor.
Area car and e-bike dealers were also doing test rides & drives. Cenntro Automotive, which is building an EV plant in Jacksonville, showed off its EV work vehicles.
I’ll be following up with some of the people I met at the show for some upcoming EV Rider episodes. But to do that, I need to know you’re interested. If you enjoyed this episode of EV Rider, please give it a like on You Tube and subscribe to my YouTube channel so I can bring you more EV adventures from Florida.
