Drive Electric Earth Month
Wayne County EV meetup and car show
Torrey, UT
Apr 20, 2024
Wayne County EV meetup and car show
Torrey, UT
Apr 20, 2024
| Day: | Saturday, April 20, 2024 NOTE: this event has already happened. |
| Time: | 3:00 - 6:00 pm MDT |
| Location: | Torrey Town Pavilion 100N 75E Torrey, UT 84775 |
Event Report
Wayne County is a very rural area. We have a population density of one person per square mile, and we have 2500 square miles.As a result of this we have very little infrastructure for EVs despite living in a gateway community for beautiful Capitol Reef National Park. I had noticed that we have about a dozen EVs in our county now, so it was the right year to organize a DEEM event. While planning the Drive Electric Earth Month event, I discovered that Tesla was submitting plans for a supercharger 100 miles south of here near Bryce Canyon National park. This was news I broke for our local newspaper, and yes in rural areas like ours, 100 miles away is still ‘local’. So our drive electric earth month event was publicized in a front page article.
We had what I considered to be a good turnout with 9 EVs participating, including a Solectrac tractor. 2 Tesla Model 3s, one of which gave full self driving rides. One Tesla Model X, a Ford Lightning, a Kia EV6, Hyundai Ionic 5, Chevy Bolt, Chevy Volt.
We had about 10 people attend the event as spectators, with some quite surprised that EVs were not as expensive as they had thought they were. Others were simply curious, some were skeptics.
Being a rural and conservative area, EVs and the impact they have on the grid is a topic of concern. I had invited my electric coop to attend, but they did not. They had responded to me that they were glad I would be promoting off peak charging. I asked each EV owner in attendance when they charged their vehicle, and all reported that they charged after midnight. So I will report this to my electric coop during their annual members meeting next week. The DEEM event was also organized to start a positive dialog about EVs with our rural electric coop.
Our EV owners were enthusiastic participants, and many said they would join a ‘cars and coffee’ regular event.
photo by: John Lee Business owners Robert Marc of Etta Place Cidery and Eduardo Nava of restraunt Chak Balam discuss the merits of owning EVs for their businesses. Marc’s Solectrac tractor does work on his orchard, and Nava’s Lightning helps maintain his restaurants. Fireman George Chappel looks on and speaks of the possibility of adding Ford Lightnings to the fire service. Mayor Mickey Wright discusses the need to get destination chargers in our small town. |
Event Description
EV ownership is increasing in Wayne County. Find out how to responsibly charge an EV in the Garkane Service District, and ask EV owners what it's like to own an EV pickup, sedan, or tractor in Wayne County.
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Registered Attendees
There are currently 12 attendees registered.
Owners of These Vehicles Have Registered To Attend
| Vehicle | Registered |
| Tesla Model 3 | 3 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 1 |
| Other Plug-In Vehicle | 1 |
| Rivian R1S | 1 |
| Tesla Model X | 1 |
| 5 Models | 7 |
Registered attendees report 299,586 electric miles driven.
