Billed as North America’s largest electric mobility festival, Electrify Expo [1] is returning to Alameda and the Bay Area on Saturday, August 23 and Sunday, August 24. For the third year in a row, the exposition will bring electric cars, bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and more to a sprawling lineup [2] on nearly one million square feet of outdoor event space in Alameda Point.
[3]The family-friendly event provides visitors the chance to check out exhibitors from popular manufacturers and to test new technologies and EVs firsthand on a closed course. It also features music, food trucks, and an exclusive zone for kids to join in on the experience.
“Manufacturers look at us as the 21st century version of an auto mall,” Electrify Expo founder and CEO BJ Birtwell said in an exclusive interview with the Alameda Post. “It’s a one-stop shop, without sales pressure, for people to figure out what vehicle is right for them.”
In addition to the latest EVs from popular manufacturers being added to the test-drive lineup this year, the festival will also display a flying car for the first time and will include product debuts, concept vehicles, and cutting-edge robotics.
“This year, tech is driving what’s new at the festival,” added Birtwell. “And it’s not just the cool factor of tech—it’s also driving costs down.” According to Birtwell, EVs are more affordable than ever before, even as the average range of new EVs continues to increase.
[4]Despite the flurry of news and politics surrounding EVs in the past year—from tariffs and the U.S. Senate’s vote to block [5] California’s electric car mandate, to the controversy surrounding Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his role in the Trump Administration—Birtwell remains mostly optimistic about the state of the EV industry.
For starters, he has never been a fan of California’s EV mandate, and is glad to see it go.
“When you tell Americans what they need to do, and what they need to buy, there is a larger percentage of Americans that are immediately skeptical about why the government is telling them to do that,” he explained. To appeal to as large a purchase pool as possible, Birtwell suggested framing EVs as an alternative propulsion, rather than chiefly a climate-forward decision, which could alienate certain buyers.
He expressed a similar perspective about Tesla, noting that for people who feel like Musk’s opinions have turned them away from the manufacturer, they certainly have the right to protest and try out the multitude of other EV options that are now available. However, he added that Tesla is “bigger than just one person” and that its 140,000 employees have developed “incredible technology” that continues to be very popular and attracts a wide contingent of buyers nationwide.
[6]Even as he anxiously awaits to see if Chinese EVs might enter the U.S. market and how that may impact the industry, Birtwell highlighted that EV sales are continuing to grow [7] despite the uncertainty of the past year. Here in the Bay Area, which has one of the highest EV adoption rates in the nation, presales for the festival have been high, indicative of pent-up demand and sustained interest and support for EVs.
“We’re expecting a great turnout,” he concluded. “We’re in for a really great year.”
Ken Der is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post [8]. Contact him via [email protected] [9]. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Ken-Der [10].