Electric Route 66

It's that time of year again!   Coinciding with Earth Day (an event held on April 22 every year since 1970), Drive Electric Earth Day was started in 2019, as a spring event to accompany the long-running fall event by the same organizers, National Drive Electric Week . Both events have now expanded to a month, to allow even more events and give event organizers more scheduling freedom. Now that April is here, it's time for a rundown of the Drive Electric Earth Month events that are happening on or near Route 66 this year. Like last year at the Fun Run, a great variety of EVs will be on display at DEEM events this year.   LA County, CA - Thursday April 2 South Whittier Library 11543 Colima Rd Whittier, CA 90604 The LA County ISD is hosting the South Whittier Library Resource Fair with 10 partner organizations, featuring EVs on display, door prizes and refreshments. Las Vegas, NV - Saturday April 4 Allegiant Stadium Polaris Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89118 Las Vegas, NV 89118 All-...

I'm coming in a little late with this post! National Drive Electric Week is currently underway and there are a number of events taking place along Route 66 this year, as in previous years. My apologies to Chicago and to Tulsa, Oklahoma for not getting this post done before events there, which happened on September 21! A small example of the EVs on display at Drive Electric Week in 2023 Here are the other Drive Electric Week events taking place on or near Route 66 over the next 10 days: Bloomington, IL, September 27 Corn Belt Energy Electric Vehicle Car Show State Farm Corporate South Parking Lot Donelson Drive This event will feature over 60 cars from dealers and owners, food trucks, ice cream, face painting & games for kids, and more.   Diamond Bar, CA, September 28 Electrify South Coast AQMD 21865 Copley Drive This event is just 10 miles from Route 66, and lists a host of organizations attending with information in addition to electric vehicle manufacturers test driving ne...

Coming up this weekend in southern California is a host of activities surrounding the Electric Vehicle Association's annual meeting, and Electric Route 66 will be there, as we were last year. Please join us if you are able!   Like last year, this year's meeting will be held at the headquarters of Aptera, the innovative company that is in the final stages of readying their 3-wheeled, solar-powered EV for production. We have a reservation for an Aptera and we're rooting for their success. We're eager to see the progress they have made since last year.   Get a closeup look at Aptera's vehicles this weekend! EVA membership is required to attend the EVA meeting. If you're not a member you can join today at MyEVA.org - a yearly membership is just $55 and goes to support education and electrification efforts nationally and through dozens of local chapters in the US and Canada, including the chapter we belong to, the Route 66 EVA . How can you resist a view like this? ...

It's May 2023, and I have once again assembled and posted another edition of Electric Route 66 Dashcam. This video comes to us from the eastern edge of California, south of Needles near the Colorado River.   The Blue Spirit has a little bit of suspension lift, for better clearance when it goes off-pavement.   We visited Needles in February 2023 to attend and assist with their annual Route 66 info fair. We had enough time to check out a couple new things in the area before we headed out to abandoned 66 south of town. In addition to two new Tesla Supercharger stations, Needles also boasts a new business named The Filter Change , which serves up helpful liquids for both cars and people. While our EV doesn't need oil changes, we loved their menu of coffee, tea, and smoothies for ourselves!   The Filter Change on Route 66 in Needles - oil & lube: not needed. Tea & smoothie: yes, please!   The rarely-traveled section of Route 66 in our video is a dead-end road in ...

It's been quite some time since I've written a trip report, but I thought this would be a good subject to get back into it. In January, we took a weekend trip in The Blue Spirit to the Electric Vehicle Association annual meeting in Carlsbad, California. This was the first EVA annual meeting we have attended, and we had a wonderful time which I'd love to tell you about. Day 1: Las Vegas, NV to Cardiff, CA The majority of our first day was spent in travel mode - lots of freeway driving and very little sightseeing. The I-15 travel corridor has a lot of traffic with numerous EV chargers along the way. We fully charged The Blue Spirit at home, and made good time to the Barstow area. We often stop for our first break and charge at Eddie World in Yermo, a great stop with Tesla Superchargers, ChargePoint fast and slow chargers, gas, restrooms, massive candy & snack selection, and several hot food options. This time, we decided to drive a little further before stopping to char...

Electric Route 66 Dashcam is revisiting California for this edition. This video comes from the same day as my previous post. In this instance, we begin our trip from Antique Station in Oro Grande, and then proceed south to Victorville on Route 66. Scroll to the bottom for the embedded video, or take your time with some photos first!   We visited Oro Grande during their yearly festival, Oro Grande Days Oro Grande Days includes a car show with some amazing vintage vehicles. Antique Station is in a very large building containing many antique vendors.     Along this stretch of 66, one of the interesting sights is Rockfield Bridge , a historic road bridge dating to 1930 that has an interesting offset truss structure. We always love to drive across neat bridges like this one. The Rockfield Bridge, north of Victorville Another notable part of this drive that I've included in the dashcam footage is Turner Road. A very short piece of this road was originally used as Route 66 in i...

This edition of Electric Route 66 Dashcam brings us back to southern California from our trip there in April 2022. We took a drive all the way through downtown Victorville headed eastbound. The video begins on Mariposa Road, a tiny bit of which was actually Route 66 before the I-15 freeway came through. This has been configured to an intersection in modern times, so we take a right turn to get onto 7th Street to head for downtown. The lovely horse-topped sign for the New Corral Motel is visible in the rear-facing passenger-side camera at 3:12, and at about 3:52 in the video after we pass Victor St., we get a brief glimpse of Apollo Restaurant , a great local burger joint.   At the heart of Victorville we pass under a wonderful overhead 'arch' for Old Town, complete with Route 66 shields. 7th Street then comes to a quick end, and we take a left turn onto D Street just as Route 66 did. Shortly after our turn you may spot the California Route 66 Museum on the left. It's a gr...

Despite a lack of posts in June, I do still exist! As proof, I offer you a newly-minted pair of videos from the Route 66 city of Barstow, California. These were both recorded in April, 2022. The first video is quite short due to a technical glitch that left me with a bad file, but the second video is over 10 minutes, and documents the entire drive from Barstow to Lenwood.   Both of these videos feature a drive across the historic First Avenue Bridge, which was built in 1930 to cross over a rail yard, with nearly 20 sets of tracks running beneath it. The bridge is overall in poor condition, and is slated to be replaced soon by an entirely new structure in a slightly different location, after which the old bridge will be demolished. The first video begins in downtown Barstow on Main Street (Route 66), then quickly turns north on First Avenue. The ending point for the first video is a parking lot at Casa Del Desierto , a former Harvey House and railroad depot which now houses some Bar...

In April 2022, We were given the opportunity to visit Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow along with a small group from the California Historic Route 66 Association . MCLB Barstow has long been off-limits to the general public, but it is accessible by special arrangement. The base is home to a small section of Route 66 now known as Joseph L. Boll Avenue, and in 2021 the road's Route 66 history was highlighted with unique signage and Route 66/Marine Corps road stencils, and a wonderful new monument.      The entrance sign at MCLB Barstow, with new Route 66 USMC logo and historical plaque.   Our host and escort for the day was Rob Jackson of the Public Affairs office, who was extremely gracious and patient with our car caravan of Route 66 enthusiasts, showing us around to several sites within the base, and leading a cruise off the main road through some other areas, including base housing.   Rob Jackson of the Public Affairs office explains the itinerary to ou...