Electric Vehicles Out in Full Force at San Diego’s Kick Gas Festival
‘The World’s First Sun-Powered Electric Car’ by International Rectifier of El Segundo, CA on display at the Kick Gas Festival
If you’re an electric vehicle enthusiast, live in San Diego, and had the day off on Sunday, October 12, the place to be was definitely the Kick Gas Festival, held in Lakeside, CA about an hour away from downtown San Diego. The Kick Gas Festival is a place for gas and EV motor-heads to strut their stuff, compete in time trials, and get to know each other. Paul Thomas, organizer of the festival, calls it “Earth Day on steroids for motor-heads.”, and I felt right at home here.
As I arrived I was greeted by the familiar deafening roar of tricked-out dragsters trying to best each other on the track. And as I parked I was treated to a surreal sight - one of the dragsters had broken down at the end of the track, and had to be towed back by the only 100% electric towing truck that I’ve ever seen. Somehow, it was strangely satisfying watching the wounded, gasoline-hungry beast being towed back silently to its owner’s pit for repairs.
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The electric contingent at this year’s Festival was out in full force. Several vendors were present showing some innovative new products; Tom Boyd of Zuumcraft was there offering attendees a chance to test ride the Zuumer electric scooter. I am a big fan of the Zuumer - it’s an electric scooter with a special rear suspension that lets you steer the scooter in much the same way as you would a snowboard or a skateboard. So I grabbed my opportunity and spent about 15 minutes zipping around the festival grounds, carving and cutting the pavement on the Zuumer and getting my concrete surfing fix in for the day.
Zero Motorcycles was there, showing their 2009 Zero-X electric dirt bike. I got a chance to meet TJ Aguirre, SoCal Team Leader for Zero Motorcycles. TJ graciously let me ride the Zero-X, and I will be running a feature soon on my experience with this awesome electric dirt bike. All I can say right now it that the bike itself has a ton of power for such a light unit (the Zero-X weighs 140 pounds) - the bike itself will easily propel you to 60 mph, will do from 0-30 in under two seconds, and handles great.
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I also got a chance to meet Todd Kollin from Electric Motorsport, Inc., of Oakland, CA. Electric Motorsport offers the first 100% street and freeway legal electric sportbike - the electric GPR-S. This all-electric sportbike has a top speed of 70 mph and a range of 30-60 miles per charge, with an average recharge time of four hours. Electric Motorsport is currently accepting orders for the first 100 production units of the GPR-S, which retails for $8,000. Head over to the Electric Motorsport website for more details.
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Adam Maoz, president of Zero Emission Motors of Marina Del Rey, CA was also there showing his electric scooter product line. Zero Emission Motors offers five electric scooter models available today, from the 350 watt Metro to the 1500 watt Volt electric scooter. Prices for the Zero Emissions Motors electric scooters range from $895 for the Metro to $1,495 for the Volt. Check out the Zero Emissions Motors website for more information.
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Colby Trudeau and Lisa Wires from PluginAmerica.org had a large booth at the event. Plug In America advocates the use of plug-in vehicles powered by electricity to reduce our nation’s dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment. For those of you interested in converting your Prius to a PHEV, check out their website for great resources.
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The electric DYI contingent at the Kick Gas festival was strong - I saw at least 6 or 7 different home-built motorcycles, and several cars converted over to electric. Robert Lange of Kelseyville, CA and the Konocti EAA raced and displayed his ‘AMP Hog’ electric motorcycle, which scored him a time of 10.26 seconds in the 1/4 mile - that’s a top speed of about 59 miles per hour.
If you’re ever in San Diego in October and are interested in cars, motorcycles, and other toys with wheels - electric or not - I definitely recommend looking up the Kick Gas festival. Chances are, you’ll meet some interesting people and get to see some fascinating vehicles you might not see anywhere else.
More Festival Pictures:
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Tags: electric gpr-s, electric motorsport, Featured, kick gas festival, metro, phev, plug-in america, Todd Kollin, volt, Zero Emission Motors, zero motorcycles, zero-x, zuumer
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Now that the (GRD) has been forced ahead by the OPEC threat to cut oil supplies until oil reaches the price they want for their ridiculously expensive lifestyle, and unemployment plagues our economy, we must face facts and demand answers. Is the end of oil in sight? Can we force OPEC and the Saudis to tell the truth about known reserves? Are we running to bicycles for real reasons, or just the greed of these “neighbors”? We need to reserve the limited nuclear resources for stratigic military reasons. We need to reserve some domestic oil for the same reasons. We need to be told the truth about world oil supplies, and if things are really this bad, we need a “Manhattan Project” style development for Solar and Wind resources as soon as possible! Don’t keep us in the dark Obama, we need to know the truth! Now! Happy cycling, Mine is a three wheeler because I am handy-capable, but a cycle none the less!