Second Half of the Electrify Expo
This is my second post about attending the Electrify Expo at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ on Sunday, May 5th.
If you want to read my first post about the Electrify Expo, then click on this link. I also posted quite a few photographs that I took of the event.
This post will focus on what I saw after I left the main exhibition area.
Celsius Energy Drink
After looking around the exhibition booth for Nikola Motor, I picked up a complimentary can of Celsius Energy Drink. The can was ice-cold. The temperature was above 90 degrees, so it hit the spot. I don't remember what flavor I drank.
Modifications and Customizations
The next exhibits of the Electrify Expo consisted of vendors that would customize or modify your EV, such as new tires, custom paint jobs, custom parts, and various other methods to modify your EV. For me, the exhibits became interesting when I came across a vendor that were selling customizable camping tents that mounted on the back of a Rivian pick-up truck. That was interesting to see. I knew that Rivian on their website also offers a camping tent that you can attach to your pick-up truck. Not too sure if they were the same product, however. There was even tubing that you could run from the air conditioner to the camping tent for heating or cooling. There was a vendor that was selling an all-electric camping trailer. Another vendor was even selling an entire field kitchen that could be powered by your EV.
Here are some photos that I took.
E-Bikes and E-Scooters
The next section of the Electrify Expo consisted of all of the electric bike (E-bike) and electric scooter (E-scooter) vendors. From what I saw, the price range for an E-bike ran from as low as $2,000 to as high as $9,000. I have to admit that I am not too interested in E-bikes, yet I can see where having one could be useful, such as riding up a steep hill.
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| E-Bikes by Soul |
The Heritage at Sportsman's Park
All of this walking around made me really hungry, so I was happy when I came across The Heritage at Sportsman's Park. I had never heard of The Heritage at Sportsman's Park before. It was really nice. The Heritage at Sportsman's Park is a three-story structure. The ground floor has a kitchen where you can order food and drinks. The second and third floors have several large flat-screen TVs and tables and chairs. I think the third floor has a bar. Basically, The Heritage at Sportsman's Park is a restaurant, a sports bar, and a nightclub in a relatively small three-story building. Apparently, you can even rent out the place for weddings or corporate parties. It's nice. I ordered a Sonoran hot dog with an iced tea. It was pretty good, but pricey at $18.
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| Sonoran Hot Dog at The Heritage at Sportsman's Park |
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| Outdoor dining at The Heritage at Sportsman's Park |
Testing Out EVs
After eating my Sonoran hot dog, I followed the crowd to the next section of the Electrify Expo. In the third section of the Electrify Expo, the organizers set up a couple of racing tracks for trying out EVs. On one track, you could check out an E-bike or an E-scooter and ride for a couple of laps. On a second track, Ford Motors set up a small test track where people could ride as passengers as a professional test driver drove a Ford Mustang EV. BMW and Kia had a similar set-up for their EVs. I think that Tesla was letting spectators ride as passengers as professional test drivers drove on the streets around State Farm Stadium. I didn't try riding an E-bike or ride shotgun on an EV. Again, these companies wanted your personal information for marketing purposes. The companies were also trying to screen for potential buyers. I was content with watching other people. The problems with the racing track area were that shade was in short supply and there wasn't anything available to drink.
In Conclusion
I had a good time at the Electrify Expo. It was DEFINITELY worth the $20 I paid for a ticket. If you are curious about electric vehicles, then I RECOMMEND that you visit the Electrify Expo. Just as a disclaimer, I do own stock in Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, Nio, and Xpeng. Do I own an electric vehicle? No, I do not. I am still driving my 2010 Nissan Maxima that I bought with money I earned from working in Afghanistan. However, my car is rapidly approaching the 100,000 mile mark.
