Evccon - terriffic!
Imagine being at a conference of 125 highly charged people pumped up to build electric cars. Then add an autocross, drag race and a special showing by Chris Paine of "Revenge of the Electic Car" and you are in for a terrific time. More than 600 EV were built by this group of people, and I and my Tesla was able to be part of it. I will break this up into several posts but I thought the group would like to see how the grass roots is progressing.
EVCCON – The conference was all an EV enthusiast could hope for. There were more than 30 EV’s present, everything from a strong X prize contender, to simple conversions to several VERY high end custom conversions that looked and drove great. And of course all the owners/builders were there to proudly show off their vehicles. The conference featured many great speakers featuring many of the people that have help build the current state of conversions.
The speakers include the following of EV lore and fame:
Jack Rickard – Sponsor and star of EVTV a weekly internet show on EV conversions.
George Hamstra – Founder of Netgain motors shared the current state of motor technology.
Sebastien Borgois – Founder of Evnetics the designer and builder of the Solitron high powered
controllers to talk about controller technology and conversions.
Wayne Anderson EVBlue– Builder of more than 450 electric car conversions.
Dr. Dennis Doerffet – Designer and builder of BMS systems.
Ryan Bohm – President of NetGain Controls and EVSource a great web site to buy parts for
electric auto conversions
One special treat of the conference was Chris Paine of “Who Killed the Electric” car who talked with us and premiered his new film “Revenge of the Electric Car”. Talk about a receptive audience, and both he and the film were a solid hit.
Friday we had additional speakers and in the afternoon an autocross course and a drag strip were set up so people can see how there conversions performed. Here the Tesla was a solid hit and I made dozens of runs down the tracks with passengers as it seemed everyone wanted a ride.
Saturday was additional talks and then an EV parade and car show open to the public. It was amazing to see the large turn out from town with hundreds of people coming to look and ask MANY questions about electric. The event was concluded with a wonderful dinner along with awards and the winner of the EVTV $20,000 component giveaway. The Tesla won, fastest street legal ¼ mile at 13.1 and 100.1 MPH, the fastest autocross time and in the community vote the best technical build!
