State of Charge '22: Gathering EV Enthusiasts

LIVING LA VIDA VOLTA

EV builders and enthusiasts from thirteen US states gathered in Colorado last August for State of Charge ’22

A wealth of hard-earned EV knowledge was on display as nine EV builders spoke about their projects and the insight they learned during the conversion process. The retrofits they discussed ranged from mild to wild. They included fantastic rigs, such as a ’72 Plymouth Satellite equipped with a Tesla LDU Sport built by Kevin Erickson, a ’96 Toyota Land Cruiser powered by a Nissan Leaf powertrain built by EVSwap, and an ’80 Subaru Brat sporting a Hyper 9 built by Flash Drive Motors (see below).

Terry Breheny, (below) founder of Ohm on the Range, hosted the event after realizing how valuable it would be to gather experienced EV builders in one place to share their practical knowledge. “I’m excited to see people talking to each other and sharing” Terry says. “To see these different builders and individuals giving advice and tips to each other, taking pictures of each other’s builds, that was the idea—to have this shared community.”

Other speakers, such as Stormy and Gregory Courter, owners of Wrenchology, and Mavrick Knoles, co-founder of Legacy EV, spoke abut bigger-picture items such as how to prepare your business for the EV transition and how to navigate EV kit selection.

On Saturday, builders and local EV enthusiasts gathered at Red Rocks Amphitheatre to show off their builds for La Vida Volta!, a public EV exhibition.

OEM EVs represented included: Ford F-150 Lightning, Rivian R1T, Lucid Air, Polestar 2, Kia EV6, Porsche Taycan, Mustang MachE, and of course, multiple Teslas (including a brand new Plaid).

“Now we are seeing clearly what is possible, things that once seemed impossible,” says Stormy Courter of Wrenchology, who came with her husband, Gregory, to show their very popular ’62 Corvair, “Electrovair”.

“We are now pushing those boundaries even farther, so I’m excited to see the growth of (this event) next year.”

Networking time during Friday’s conference allowed us to see firsthand the converted classic EVs on display, take photos, and question the builders during the catered lunch break and afternoon happy hour.

Other conversions on display included a pair of ’58 Chevy Apaches, ’65 Ford Mustang, ’64 Ford Galaxie, ’71 VW Type 3, ’65 Ford F-100, and ’66 Porsche 912.

The day concluded with an informative “Ask the Experts” Q&A session, whereby all conference speakers were brought together for audience queries.

Casey Loter of Salt Lake City was the lucky winner of the CD-7LG Carbon Digital dash display donated by AEM-EV. The Golden Wrench, i.e., the Promoter’s Pick for Best of Show, was awarded to Kevin Erickson for his ‘72 “Electrollite” by Terry Breheny of Ohm On The Range. Finally, the longest-distance-driven- in-a-converted-EV award went to Mick Longley from Durango, Colorado, who came at the wheel of his Nissan Leaf-swapped ‘71 Volkswagen hatchback 729 miles (roundtrip).

Terry, the show organizer, concluded the weekend by stating that based on the overwhelmingly positive feedback from both days, the event will return with even more activities and vehicles next year. Watch this space for the 2023 dates, or check SOC23.com.

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY THE EVBG TEAM AND TERRY BREHENY