I went to Everything Electric CANADA - World's #1 Home Energy & Electric Vehicle Show!
This article summarizes my experience with a podcast, a list of videos, and some stories. Enjoy!
Podcast
Interested in an AI-generated podcast version of this article? Have a listen here, it's generated by NotebookLM. Freaks me about a bit, how about you? Please feel free to leave your comments about this "podcast" or anything else about this article right at the bottom, no login required!
If you don't care to log in to your Google account to hear it, here's a shorter clip below:
Videos
Alternatively, you can autoplay the entire playlist.
While the Rivian R2 was a no-show, I got a good look at the R3 by the best person to explain that lovely interior!
Original Article Below
It's time I try something new. Between jobs is an excellent time for stretching beyond the comfort zones of the many IT-related conferences I usually attend like VMworld. The last time I truly ventured out beyond the world of IT was when I took vacation days to attend CES in 2012. I had a press badge there too, and that sure was a lot of fun. Attending this event sounds fun and even more purposeful to me.
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post, and all travel costs for this trip are at my own expense. I was provided a press pass for all 3 days at no charge, but there were no stipulations about what I would do while there or the content I create.
Home Energy
I'm excited to announce that I'm going to Vancouver, Canada, from Friday, September 6, to Sunday, September 8, to examine the future of sustainability technology. It's great timing for me, and it's been a relief to finally see a growing portion of the world's population realize that moving away from relying on fossil fuels is the logical path forward, especially as climate change begins to affect them personally.
Other geopolitical issues come into play when it comes to energy, things we have no control over. Or do we? Here in Connecticut, our electric rates temporarily doubled recently, which sure was a wake-up call to my wife and I. So we took action and did something about it. Over the past few years, I'm seeing more and more IT folks I know personally taking similar actions. Meeting non-IT folks who are of similar mindsets at this event will undoubtedly be good for me, and the excitement I feel for this event reminds me of my glory days at VMware, talking to others about VMware & vSAN all over the US.
The transition toward finding ways to use much less energy to move around and get things made is happening. With each passing year, our grid is generally moving toward carbon-free ways of generating power. Naturally, the sources includes wind, solar, and battery storage systems. Climate change is becoming more evident to more people. We can do better with both transportation and manufacturing, and that transition is largely what this conference is all about.
This transition happening in both the production of energy and the new uses for it is huge, and not without its challenges. It touches so many industries. Sustainability technologies, or more specifically, all that goes into the process of the electrification of everything, is the area of technology that I've been focusing more of my time on lately, reflected in my content here at TinkerTry. I'm also testing VPP (Virtual Power Plant) and connected solution incentives, and following various V2H/V2G (Vehicle to Home, Vehicle to Grid) technologies.
What better place to go to meet a wide variety of companies that are in the sustainability space. I know I'm going to have a really good time talking to the various exhibitors from all over the world.
I've been tinkering with my new Virtual Power Plant all summer long with my new, fully operational 27.6 kW solar and 54 kWh energy storage system at home. Topics like Vehicle to Grid, Vehicle to Home, and charge on solar all interest me greatly. I've also been closely following the challenges associated with AC and DC charging of EVs of all brands, as a guy who has Supercharged 182 times at 80 different locations in the US and Canada, and with family living in both Boston and New York City. Those 105 to 115 mile trips each way stretch my range in winter, or even in the summer if I use tires with higher rolling resistance, so the tracking of the real-world use of EVs & charging is very personal to me.
The Fully charged Show has long touted the #StopBurningStuff hashtag, and that's exactly what my wife and I did when we moved to our forever home 2 years ago, ditching "natural" gas and going all-electric, with the solar and battery storage aspects of this renovation featured in this >1M video that Matt Ferrell kindly produced earlier this year.
Electric Vehicles
After 30 years of mostly Honda Civics in our household, my wife and I went all EV, getting our Tesla Model 3 EVs back in 2018 and 2019. This decision turned out to be financially wise long-term, especially when I look back at how much business and personal travel I did in those years. This successful move to electric transport sparked my interest in the then-nascent electric vehicle industry as a whole, and led to some fun on the podcast rounds including the honor of being dubbed the electric vehicle correspondent at Tech Breakfast Podcast. This interest also led to me becoming one of the leaders of the EV Club of Connecticut.
The last big car show I've attended was Chicago Auto Show - The Nation's Largest Auto Show. I happened to be in town for a company's IT training, and I only had an hour to run around before my flight out, but what a hoot that was. The video I captured of so many EV makes being test-driven indoors without fumes was a pretty inspiring sight that I won't forget.
In addition to all the expected brands being there with many available for test drives, one of the more prominent, unique opportunities is this one. The Rivian R2 and R3 will both be there to see! For me personally, this is a great opportunity to see first-hand the progress they've made since they gave the EV Club of Connecticut a sneak peek at a pre-production Rivian R1T way back in May of 2021, asking for our feedback, which I loved to provide. I did get reminded that the software wasn't done yet, right as I started to try and use the touch-screen. If you know me, you know I enjoy a peek at leading (and sometimes bleeding) edge of tech, and it's safe to say I'll be seeing plenty more of that at this event.
Undecided with Matt Ferrell
I've had the chance to meet Matt before. I first met at the world's first passive house certified hotel tour, and again when his team produced a video of our respective homes. I very much look forward to being in the audience for his many sessions at this conference.
Matt also kindly agreed to help moderate our upcoming NEEVS (NorthEast Electric Vehicle Symposium) panel discussion in New Haven Connecticut, and I have the privilege of being the person who gets to introduce him to the crowd.
Munro & Associates
Sandy was kind enough to record a video with me, and I'm hoping to have a chance to meet him in person after one of his many presentations.
Others
Along with meeting members of the press, I'm hoping to meet some of the content creators like Ricky/Two Bit da Vinci, and maybe some of the staff of the UK-based Fully Charged show and podcast.
- Vancouver to Host Rivian’s Latest EV Lineup at Everything Electric CANADA 2024
Rivian R1T, R1S, R2, and R3Everything Electric CANADA and Rivian have announced that they will be bringing the the Rivian R1T, R1S, R2, and R3 to Vancouver, B.C. for the world’s number 1 home energy and electric vehicle show.
Closing
Feel free to leave a comment below this article if you have a suggestion for which exhibitor you'd like to see me visit or get some footage or photos of. I've been granted a press pass, which will give me great access, one of the perks of having a blog.
In case a reader of this article will be in attendance too, please reach out to me so we can try to meet in person.
In the spirit of appreciating the nature that I've always loved so deeply, what better time for me to rent an EV to explore the area around Vancouver after the conference for a bit. Stay tuned to my travel adventures here, if you're into photography and/or tech.
Social
Sep 14 2024 Update
I've already got some videos for you, in full 4K 60 fps glory. Minimal edits as I only had my iPhone 15 Pro Max and some Comica wireless mics with me, but I think some of these came out pretty well anyway. I've added them to the top of this article.
About the author
Paul Braren is an IT professional and tech blogger who covers PCs, EVs, home tech, efficiency, and more. Paul has authored over 1,200 long-term technical articles and 500 videos since founding TinkerTry.com over the past 13.75 years, increasing his focus lately on creating EV articles and videos, along with helping the EV Club of Connecticut since purchasing his first EV in 2018 - a Tesla Model 3 Long Range - replacing his 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid.
He is currently in the process of finding a great match for his next employment.
Disclosure: I hold no stocks and never held stocks in any of the tech companies mentioned at TinkerTry, including Tesla and any other company mentioned in this article.
If you happen to also be interested in a series of deeply technical articles and more videos about all the challenges that went into ripping out our baseboard heat and natural gas lines and going all-electric, while also upgrading the windows and insulation and air-tightness (AeroBarrier), consider using the Follow links listed below.
Follow
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Follow my work at:
- X (Twitter) @paulbraren
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- TinkerTry.com/EVarticles | TinkerTry.com/EVvideos | Weekly Email | RSS
- Member of EV Club of CT Leadership Team, Manager of @EVClubCT & EVClubCT Channel
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If you're interested in following my biggest sustainability project ever that details my (mostly) successful effort to go all-electric at my home using heat pumps, solar, and batteries, consider subscribing to the TinkerTry YouTube Channel, then click on the alarm icon to get notified of new videos. Also consider showing your support on my Patreon page.
See also
- Northeast Electric Vehicle Symposium (NEEVS) 2024
Sep 15 2024 by Barry Kresch
NEEVS is back, this year expanded to a 2-day event on Sunday, September 15th and Monday, September 16th at Hotel Marcel, New Haven. Registration now open.
See also at TinkerTry
- Paul Braren's podcast guest appearances
- EV articles at TinkerTry.com/EVs
- EV videos at TinkerTry.com/EVvideos
- Tesla Solar Roof - 33 yr. old Connecticut home successfully renovated & electrified. No more gas!
Oct 29 2023
- Featured on "Home Gadget Geeks" Episode #584 "Paul Braren and Lots of Stuff to Catch Up on! – HGG584"
Sep 16 2023
- EV Club of CT's smart electrical panel discussion featuring SPAN, electrician, & homeowner
Jan 09 2023
- [Rivian R1T EV pickup truck overview at Northeast Rivian Club event in Bridgeport Connecticut, owner Jazzy Jeff has 5,300 miles already!]
May 15 2022
- Little House Brewing Company in Chester Connecticut, built in 1836, now has a Tesla Solar Roof!
Feb 02 2022
- Michelin CrossClimate 2 All Weather Tires Review - a safe year-round choice in rain/snow, hot/cold
Dec 10 2021
and waiting for test drives of various EVs (Cybertruck was a static display) pic.twitter.com/X9wsYF6tGo
— Paul Braren, TinkerTry.com ☀️🏠💻🔋🚗 (@paulbraren) February 18, 2024