Drive Electric Earth Month
Tanger Asheville Outlets, Drive Electric Earth Day 2024
Asheville, NC
Apr 21, 2024

Event Report

On a rainy April 21st, 2024 you would not expect so many electric vehicle enthusiasts to visit the Tanger Asheville Outlets to see electric cars but it happened!  The weather had been sunny all week, but it was forecast to rain all day on the Sunday of the show! However, this is Asheville... At 10 AM the volunteers piled in and we were able to set up before noon.  People arrived prepared with their raincoats and umbrellas and the show began!  Courtesy of Sugar Hollow Solar, Hunter Volvo, and the Asheville Tanger Outlets, the event was a success seeing two to three hundred participants despite the weather.

Other sponsors included Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition, Earthshine Nature Programs, Western North Carolina Tesla Owners, Sunshine Chevrolet, and Solfarm Solar.   In addition, supporting the event were Teslabros, Feed Me Foam recycling, Loving Food Resources, Amazon with their Rivian van, Dynamite Roasting with their Ford Transit EV, Electrify Asheville Buncombe, and WNC Environmental Group who were selling tickets to raffle off a Rivian Truck!

And, the added bonus were the UNCA Mechatronics Engineering students who came out with their EV race car prototype designed and constructed from scratch...

The huge attraction for the day were the Dueling Cybertrucks - thank you Western North Carolina Tesla owners group!

 At 2 PM Sugar Hollow solar gave away an e-bike, and the rain subsided slightly.  But it started again, but that did not stop the people.  In fact, one would not know it was raining.  The music and sound system were courtesy of LiveEdge Audio Production.

This crowd was different than in the past.  People were looking for EVs - they came to see the wide variety of EVs:     

Prius Prime, ID4s, Bolt EVs and EUVs, Cadillac Lyric, Kona EV, Mach Es, Tesla Model 3s, CMax Energi, Nissan Leafs, Jaguar Ipace, Rivian R1Ts, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Rivian R1Ss, Ford F-150 Lightnings Tesla Model S, Nissan Ariya, BMW I4, Tesla Model Xs, Volvos C40, Volvo XC60 PHEV, Cybertrucks, Chevy Silverado EV, Chevy Blazer EV, Tesla Model Ys, classic Chevy Volts, Mitsubishi I-Miev, Chevy Spark EV, Subaru Solterra, Kia EV9s, Ford Transit EV,  Harley Davidson Livewire, Kia EV6, BMW I3 Rex, Rivian EDV...e-bikes, e-scooters...People drove many hours for from Charlotte and Hickory, and across the border from Johnson City, for example to be at this event despite the rain!

60 rides were given, with the BMW I4 and Ford F-150 Lightning being very popular.  Thank you, drivers!

No doubt the success of this rainy day EV event demonstrates electric vehicles are here to stay and getting much more popular.  Thanks to everyone who made this possible!   Here are some photos from the event:

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/kHKjyk8XHaFh3wRH8

photo by: Rudy Beharrysingh Earthshine POD pulled by Cybertruck, courtesy Steve O'Neil.

More photos from this event.

Event Description

Sponsored by Tanger Asheville, Sugar Hollow Solar, and Hunter Volvo of Asheville, the Blue Ridge EV Club presents Asheville's 4th Spring Drive Electric Event!

Come out an enjoy an afternoon with electric cars, electric bikes, solar energy at the Tanger Outlets Asheville, on April 21st from Noon to 4PM.

Ride an E-Bike,

Take a ride in your favorite EV,

Learn from Owners of Electric Vehicles,

Get the latest about Solar Energy and Battery Storage,

Become Knowledgeable about the various tax credits for you to make the change,

In addition you can win a FREE e-bike from Sugar Hollow Solar.

Go here to find out more: 

https://www.sugarhollowsolar.com/events/ride-into-spring-e-bike-giveaway

The 4th Annual Earth Day Electric Vehicle Event will have cutting edge technology to transition us a cleaner future.

Come out and be part of the electric revolution.

The Age of EV

As at past events, we will be collecting food for the Loving Food Resources pantry.  Please bring a donation of unopened, unexpired, non-perishable food.  Smaller sizes are appropriate (even preferred, in some cases).  The following items are particularly needed:

                             Boxed Breakfast Cereal                                                                             

                             Spaghetti Sauce

                             Spaghetti Pasta

                             Salt and pepper

                             Regular Ground Coffee

                             Cake Mix

                             Creamy Peanut Butter

                             Helper Meals - Beef or Tuna

                             Saltines

                             Vanilla Wafers

                             Dried Fruit

                             Mixed Nuts

For further information:     https://www.lovingfood.org/

Asheville Drive Electric Earth Day is hosted by the Blue Ridge EV Club and Western North Carolina Tesla Owners and sponsored by Sugar Hollow Solar, Hunter Volvo Cars of Asheville, Tanger Outlets (Asheville), Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, and Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition.

                 

Registered Attendees

There are currently 199 attendees registered.

Owners of These Vehicles Have Registered To Attend

Registered attendees report 3,579,233 electric miles driven.