Toronto Star: Homegrown EVs turn heads at Toronto show

Peter Gorrie covered our show last week, and the matter is presented - in a story by the same title as attributed to them in this blog post!

Peter Says "Most of the big names didn’t make an appearance.

No shiny Nissan Leafs, Chevy Volts or Mitsubishi i-Mievs.
Perhaps it was because the Electric Vehicle Society’s first annual autumn show was held at a Toyota-Lexus dealership near the corner of Eglinton Ave. and Leslie St.", and goes on with "Corporate competitors couldn’t have matched the array of Toyota Priuses — standard and plug-in hybrids, and a couple of all-electric conversions — that lined one side of the display area."

Then there was the reference to cars like mine - the blood, sweat, and even - yes, tears some times: "No matter, though: The stars for about 400 visitors last Sunday were mainly across the aisle; individuals who’ve caught the electric bug and created their own alternative wheels."

While I did get interviewd by Peter, I did not get quoted by him, but that might have been because another writer for the Toronto Star - Monte Gisborne - intervied me also, and was doing his own article, and while it is not online yet, it was in the Saturday, October 23, 2010 issue of the Star in Print - Wheels Section, along with Peters Story! That one has a paragraph about me, and a good shot of 'electricfly' - the Embroidered Front Seat Headrests, and Embroidered Ball Cap!

The Story - found at - the front cover - below the fold on the wheels section and online at http://www.wheels.ca/article/792247 did a pretty good job of telling it like it was and covered some of our better members projects in Southern Ontario! 

Jan Szott, with two of his projects - the Horseless Hybrid Carriage, and the Chassis of his future Electric Sportscar; Brian Kirk and Graham Lambert, with their 1983 Porsche 944 with Lithium Iron Phosphate Cells - made th cover of the Story;  Ken Roach’s 1995 Ford Escort now in phase two of PbA Battery Tests with some new ones I tracked down and he is testing; the UOIT Team with The blue Saturn Vue, and their exotic Lithium Polymer pack and exotic cooling and heating system for the cells; and Aaron Cake on his 10-year-old Honda Insight hybrid, which he got 'only' 3.8 l/100 km instead of his better 3.0 l/100 km! Aaron also brought his custom built, 48 volt, home built for abuse, scooter! Steve Dallas can be easily seen, but not heard, driving Toronto’s streets in his 'Little Yellow Car' officially called 'Project EVE', and all Electric Custom built, Prototype he hopes to produce!

Check out the Show info at http://www.evfest.ca/!

EV Fest Today - A Packed House!

EV Fest, Toronto's Premier Electric Vehicle Fall Festival, Came through today with Flying colors: http://www.evfest.ca/ !! We had the Tesla Roadster Sport, provided by a local owner - David, who was nice enough to take me for a short ride, between arriving, and my guiding him to his parking place for the show, and what better place to do that from than the Passenger Seat of a Tesla Roadster Sport!

We had the Toronto Electric Project EVE, also called 'A2B' - the Little Yellow Car that continued to draw crowds all day! The Toyota Canada Prius PHEV was there, and the UOIT eVue also! Up Front we had Unlimited Mobility - an Electric Scooter and Mobility Products Company. And that was just in the drive in service area!

In the Shop, we had 'Prius Alley' down the left side, 8 Toyota's 7 Prius and a Hybrid Camry.  The Prius' were converted to PlugIn Hybrids either with the Hymotion Pack or the Enginer Pack, topped off by the Porsche 944SM! Counting down from the Porsche, was 2 by Erik,  followed by Emile, Jack Chen, Mony, Lee Davies, Allan Hays, and Pat's Scarborough Toyota Hymotion Demo Prius.

Dividing up the left and right, down the middle was EP Riders display!

Down the right side, we had Ron groves with the Eco Driver Presentation, followed by Derek Wilson with the Eco Alternative Energy Display. Then John Farmer's Ford Ranger EV, JP Fernbach's Skoda EV, My Electricfly, Aaron Cake's Insight Hybrid, Ken Roach's Escort EV, Jan Szott's Electric Sports Car Chassis & Hybrid Horseless Carriage, and lastly - Bruce Westlake's Ford Escape PHEV from Michigan!
Members of the Press came, (at least two, but I think there were three, all together!), and over 500 people registered in for the show! I guess the Burger count might be most accurate, but there were 300 Burgers and 200 Hot Dogs provided and enjoyed by Attendees! (Guests, Volunteers, and Exhibitors alike!)

Getting Ready for the show, I learned a bit how to do a group text with my cell phone (It's not realy a smart phone and I'm not realy a smart guy - trying to hack out a message with multiple presses to get a single letter, but in the end, in got results!)

Keep an eye out for Stories in the press from Peter Gorrie, and Monte Gisborne!

Enjoy!
(Updated October 20, 2010, 5:30 P.M., with corrected information. R.W.)

3 Days Left to EV Fest! Are you registered yet?

Hey you all Electric Vehicle (EV) Fans, are you coming to EV Fest? Toronto's Premier Electric Vehicle Fall Festival? Just three Days Left!

More Electric Vehicle's registered for Exhibit than were at the last Toronto Auto Show, ranging from High School Student Conversions to Million Dollar Plus EV Prototypes, and - the Xof1 Solar Car!

Meanwhile, tell everyone about our free "EV Fest", Toronto's Premier Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Fall Festival, on Sunday, October 17th at Toyota-On-the-Park, 1077 Leslie St @ Eglinton in Toronto. You'll see all kinds of Hybrids, Plug-In Hybrids and Electric Vehicles, both from major manufacturers as well as conversions and hobbyists.


Please register the whole family for free tickets on the EV Fest website (www.EVFest.ca) and drop by for a free BBQ and say "Hi" on Sunday.

And remember to bring your registration confirmation, as it may be used for some special activities access. [TBA]

Just 16 Days Left to EV Fest - Toronto's Premier Electric Vehicle Fall Festival!

Just over Two Weeks to Go, and the Guests are starting to take the plunge! Registrations are coming in at an increased pace, but - Are YOU Coming? Check out the Website http://www.evfest.ca/ and notice the updates: the Pages are now highlighted as active on the menu, and - there are more exhibitors shown in the image list on the home page!

Do you have your own Electric Vehicle you would like to Exhibit? Bring it on down to EV Fest  and Register as a Non-Profit Exhibitor for just $15! More Details onsite at http://www.evfest.ca/.

Guests can Register For Free Online - Just check out the website at http://www.evfest.ca/ today!