National Drive Electric Week
Pocatello EV Expo
Pocatello, ID
Sep 28, 2024

Event Report

The Portneuf Resource Council (PRC) sponsored the 2024 Pocatello EV Expo on September 28^th and was held in conjunction with National Drive Electric Week. This is our third time sponsoring the EV Expo and this year our event had 17 electric vehicles.    Like past years, the Pocatello EV Expo was held concurrent and adjacent to the Portneuf Valley Farmer's Market at Lookout Point in Pocatello, Idaho.  The event ran from 9 am to 1 pm and we had beautiful weather and great attendance for both the EV Event and the Farmer's Market.  New for this year, at 11 am we had a series of public speakers, more on that down below.

PRC did a great job promoting the event this year.  The EV Expo was a featured story on the PRC sponsored Sustainable Idaho, a twice weekly podcast on our local NPR radio station, KISU.   Here is the link to the interview with Mike Engle, Chair of the Portneuf Resource Council.  We issued a press release in the Idaho State Journal (ISJ), our local paper, and the ISJ also published a frontpage feature article on the Expo in the Wednesday paper and on their website before the event.  Additionally, the Pocatello Old Town Association gave us a paragraph describing the event in their “Historic Downtown Pocatello Weekly Update” weekly feature in the Idaho State Journal.   The East Idaho News e-zine posted a feature article on the EV Expo based on an interview with PRC Board of Director Linda Engle.  In addition to featuring the EV Expo the front page of the PRC website, we promoted the event on PRC’s Facebook page, in the Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities Coalition monthly newsletter, in numerous local Community Calendar pages (both in print and online), and we distributed event flyers on cars and event posters around town.   KPVI television Channel 6 was at the event and had a segment about the Expo on the evening news after the event.

 We had a total of 17 vehicles on display in the Marshall Public Library south parking lot adjacent to Lookout Point and the Farmer's Market.  We did not offer the opportunity for test drives.  An amazing 14 of the vehicles were privately owned and only three were brought by local car dealer Cole Nissan/KIA.  At the Expo, there was only one duplicate make and model, the Smart Fortwo.  Of the 17 vehicles, 2 were PHEV's and 18 were full EV's.  One of the EV's was a unique re-built 1965 Volkswagen Bug that was converted to full BEV.  Besides the VW Conversion bug, the only returning vehicle from last year was a 2023 Ford F150 Lightning whose pickup bed served as the ‘stage’ for our public speakers. 

New for this year, the Portneuf Resource Council lined up seven different speakers for the event; each had about 5 minutes to talk.   Mike Engle, Chair of the Portneuf Resource Council, kicked off the public presentations welcoming the speakers, the EV owners, and the public and talked about the need for electrification and how we are near the inflection point in the adoption of electric vehicles with respect to cost and availability of charging stations.  Jet Hawk of Idaho’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources talked about the rollout of federal funds in Idaho for charging stations.  John Smart, Director of Idaho National Laboratory’s Charge X Consortium spoke of their research on battery and charging technology and INL’s support for electric vehicle adoption.  Nate Roberts a local elected Idaho State Representative spoke on the charging station infrastructure build out in Idaho and the jobs opportunities it will create and that citizens need to let government know what they want when it comes to clean energy and electric vehicles.  Basil Barna from Yellowstone-Tetons Clean Cities coalition talked about their organizations focus of promoting EVs and their work with municipalities in converting city vehicle fleets to EVs.  Matt Stuki of Idaho Power spoke of their conversion of Idaho Power’s fleet to EVs and on the power grid’s resiliency to service the change in electrical demand in the transition to EVs.  Henry Kmetz, a 15 year old Pocatello High School sophomore, spoke eloquently on the impact of climate change on his and his generation’s future and the need for immediate action on decarbonization, and Linda Engle, PRC BOD and representing the Idaho EV Advocacy Group, spoke on the organizations mission and how to join the group.

The weather was surprisingly warm for late September and there was good walk-in traffic from the Farmer’s Market.  Especially in the morning, there was a steady stream of participants viewing the diverse line up of electric vehicles and the owners fielded a lot of questions.   By noon the weather became hot and overall attendance at both the EV Expo and the Farmer’s Market dropped off.  We estimate that about 250 people engaged with the EV owners and 100's more walked by while browsing the Farmers Market.  The EV owners were pleased to share their cars, knowledge, and stories.  The public was curious and had many of the anticipated questions about range, batteries, recycling, charging, and maintenance.   

We also invited environmentally, or sustainability focused local and regional organizations to join us and table at the event.  The Portneuf Resource Council sponsored the event and maintained a large tabling presence under three canopies.  PRC's mission is to advocate for clean water and clean energy and this event was very much in line with our clean energy campaigns.  PRC displayed and handed out a variety of pamphlets and materials provided by NDEW on electric vehicles and charging.  Idaho Power provided posters and sandwich boards with information on electric vehicles and the locations of the planned rollout of charging stations in Idaho.  Also at the PRC table, we had materials to hand out from organizations that couldn’t attend including Sierra Club of Idaho and Citizens' Climate Lobby of Pocatello.  Other organizations tabling were Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust, Watershed Guardians, and Idaho’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources.  The tabling entities reported good engagement with the public.   Lastly, Brian Blad, Mayor of Pocatello, issued a proclamation stating that September 27^th  through October 6^th  is Drive Electric Week in Pocatello and encouraged Pocatellans to educate themselves on the goals of National Drive Electric Week and consider how they can support the environment.

 Overall, we had a great event and the speakers, tabling organizations, and EV owners appreciated the participation gifts provided by NDEW.   We handed out all 45 of the participation gifts that we also stuffed with additional stickers and pamphlets pertaining to PRC.   PRC is grateful to and are excited to continue to collaborate with the NDEW organization to promote EV's and show the public a great way to reduce their carbon footprint.

photo by: Mike Engle Nate Roberts, Idaho State Representative talking to EV owners and the public from our "stage", the bed of a Ford F150 Lightning. Quite a few of the EVs are visible in the image.

Event Description

Registered Attendees

There are currently 44 attendees registered.

Owners of These Vehicles Have Registered To Attend

Registered attendees report 336,957 electric miles driven.