We were invited again this year to bring our personal EVs out to display and give test rides at the Energy Whiz event held at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, FL.  This event is for students to bring in their projects and compete as well as have their projects judged for trophies, plaques, and ribbons.  Much like science fair but all the projects have a central theme of using renewable energy in some form.  They have mini solar powered cars that have to race down a track carrying something like an egg or ping pong ball.  The winner has to cross the finish line with their “cargo” intact and still on board!  There is also a solar cook-off where the students design and build their own solar ovens that use mirrors and reflective foil and tape to focus the sun onto their pots and pans.  So they will be judged not only on the design and cooking power of the oven but also on the food they cooked with it!  There is also a “critter comfort cottage” competition where the students build a dog/cat/bird house that uses solar or other renewable power to run a fan or cooler or in some way make the house more comfortable for the animal.  There is also the big electrathon race with home built electric carts that use four bicycle sized wheels, electric motor, and batteries and drive around a track for 1 hour.  The race is won by endurance and the cart that does the most laps in 1 hour on a single battery charge.

We were there with many different makes and  models of electric vehicles that we drive every day to work and school.  Our tent and tables were set up on both sides of the main entrance so we could answer as many questions as possible from the attendees about our daily driving on electricity.  Everyone agreed that it was VERY beneficial to see all the different makes and models available as most of them didn’t know they even existed and were available to purchase today from the local dealerships (or directly from Tesla’s website!)

Here’s a few photos from the event with a link to the full album below:

Full album here: https://goo.gl/photos/SCdH5SRqq554bRrR6