LONG BEACH, Calif. — If it has wheels and plugs into a charger, chances are you’ll find it at Electrify Expo this weekend.
Car, motorcycle, scooter, skateboard, bicycle or unicycle, EVs of all types won’t just be on display at the Long Beach Convention Center. They’re available for test rides in an event that is part festival, part mobility showcase and entirely experiential.
“Anything that moves you with a battery is here,” Electrify Expo founder and executive producer BJ Birtwell said of the event, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets cost $20 for adults. Kids ages 5 and under are free.
Car companies that are showing off vehicles or offering test rides include BMW, Chrysler, Kia, Lexus, Lucid, Toyota, Polestar, Porsche, Volvo and Volkswagen.
The Harley-Davidson electric sub-brand LiveWire and popular Irvine startup Super73 are among the companies offering demo rides on two wheels, along with multiple electric bicycle and scooter brands, including Bird and Lime.
There are also several brands of electric skateboards that will let visitors take them out for a spin.
But the EV-curious don’t just have to choose between four wheels or two. Aptera, Arcimoto and ElectraMeccanica are among the companies showing off three-wheelers, while the Electric Unicycle Collective has just one.
“We’ve passed the point of enthusiasts and early adopters coming in and only seeing one or two selections of cars to choose from. There’s this large breadth of manufacturers offering products. We’ve crossed more into the mainstream,” Birtwell said. “High gas prices don’t hurt. People are looking for alternative ways to get around, but also people see that this is the future.”
Still, many people are unfamiliar with the technology. So the Expo serves as a place to learn by doing — by taking one around a track. “Coming to a show like ours helps to alleviate and answer some misconceptions and questions about charging and EVs in general.”
Birtwell himself was once a skeptic. A self-described car guy and BMW fan, who thought a vehicle lacked soul if he couldn’t hear the rumble of a V8, he became a convert in 2016 after a friend let him drive a Tesla Model S.
“That light bulb moment happened for me because of a personal experience,” he said. “That’s when I realized this is what it will take for some consumers to understand the thrill of going electric. If we can put somebody behind the wheel or on the saddle of a bike, I know we’re pushing that person that much closer to purchasing that product. The whole barrier to EVs is there’s not an opportunity for trial. Electrify Expo solves that.”
An experiential EV festival that is more similar to the South by Southwest Music Festival than the LA Auto Show, this weekend’s Expo is the kickoff to five events happening around the country throughout the year. After it wraps up in Long Beach, the show will stop in Seattle in July, New York in August, Miami in October and Austin in November. Last year, there were three Electrify Expos, including one at the Great Park in Orange County, but it outgrew the space, causing its relocation to Long Beach.
Combined, the five Electrify Expos will handle about 70,000 demo rides this year, Birtwell estimates. To sign up, visitors need to fill out a digital liability waiver when they first arrive. Each manufacturer then has their own sign-up procedure to check out a vehicle for a test. Set up in the parking lot, the outdoor festival has a track for lower-speed vehicles, such as bicycles and skateboards. Larger vehicles are test driven on the street.