Driving down the roads in Miami it can sometimes seem there are as many Teslas as Toyotas.
Florida is already the second-largest United State market for electric vehicles. trailing only California — evidence of the growing popularity of cars powered by plugs not gas pumps.
Tesla may be the market leader but it’s facing a growing array of EV competitors. Many of them that will be on display at North America’s largest electric vehicle festival, which is returning to Miami this weekend and bringing more car brands than ever before — as well as other electric-powered transport options. The festival is called Electrify Expo and it’s going to take over one million square feet at Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds.
“I just want to invite people, wherever you’re coming from, whether you’re in the market for an EV, whether you’re a two car family and you’re and both of them are gas and you’re realizing that, hey, one of these can be electric or you’re even a skeptic,” said BJ Birtwell, CEO and founder of Electrify Expo. “This is the best spot and the most fun spot in North America to come and learn about EVs.”
The event features hands-on opportunities to get behind the wheel and try out an electric vehicle for yourself in open-air.
And it won’t be just electric cars and trucks available for demo rides. There also will be electric motorcycles, bikes, skateboards, scooters and watercraft too. For families, there’s a kid zone with the option to hop on electric go-karts or safety-wheel bikes.
The auto manufacturers include Porsche, BMW, Mitsubishi, Ford, Toyota, Volvo and Volkswagen and other makers, which all will set up staging areas around the fairgrounds to showcase their top models and newest technology. Tesla, which joined the festival for the first time this year, is bringing a life-sized robot Optimus, along with its collection of models. Ford is showing off a 1,400-horse Mustang Mach-E, which will run in a “Thrill Zone” area.
“They bring out all the stops,” Birtwell said. “We want to grow our auto manufacturer base because this environment is a more conducive environment for people to actually experience these cars.”
The Sunshine State is a big market for EVs, ranking number two nationally for vehicles on the road. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 6.7 percent of the state’s cars are registered as electric as of December 2022.
Miami-Dade and Broward counties have the most electric car sales, Jennifer Szaro, the chair of Drive Electric Florida, an industry group that promotes electric vehicle adoption within the state told the Miami Herald in December. The shift toward EVs helps reduce fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change but people also are turning to them because of rising fuel costs and performance that rivals and can exceed gas-burning sports cars.
Birtwell wasn’t always a fan of electric vehicles himself, confessing he was a skeptic and “borderline hater.”
“I always felt like if I couldn’t hear the rumble of a V8 or the sound from an inline 4 turbo you would never get me behind the wheel of that car because it lacked a soul,” Birtwell said.
“Little did I know how wrong I had it until I had my butt in a seat.” One concern he used to have, and hears a lot of from people now, is how to adjust to not having a gas station every five minutes in the road in what’s often called “range anxiety.”
For Birtwell, running out of range on his car has not been a problem, but he is able to charge his electric car at home. He said there will be EV experts answering questions at an education center run by Florida Power and Light. The state has also been expanding the number of fast chargers along major highways using the federal infrastructure bill.
“The conversation volume immediately starts to happen after the event,” Birtwell said. “It kind of helps drive the adoption rate in that area. Auto manufacturers wouldn’t participate with us if the festival wasn’t selling cars”
IF YOU GO
What: Electrify expo electric car festival
When: The two day festival is Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 14 and 15, and runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Miami-Dade County Fairgrounds, 10901 SW 24th St.
Tickets: $20 on Electrify’s website, and kids 5 and under get in for free. Organizers suggest getting to the event early to find parking in one of the garages, on the street or a metered lot nearby and to save time at the lines for demo rides.
Ashley Miznazi is a climate change reporter for the Miami Herald funded by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.
This story was produced in partnership with the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a multi-newsroom initiative founded by the Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, WLRN Public Media and the Tampa Bay Times.
