HOW A HARDCORE GAS-FUELED AFTERMARKET AND MOTORSPORTS LEADER EMBRACED EVS
We chat with Electrify Expo’s BJ Birtwell, founder of the largest consumer EV show in America.
On this episode of The InEVitable, Jonny and I chat with BJ Birtwell, founder and CEO of Electrify Expo, America’s largest electric vehicle show for consumers. As we discuss, Birtwell is a veteran of the automotive industry, with vast, varied, and deep connections in the aftermarket and motorsports arenas and at major car companies.
In fact, I first met Birtwell while covering the growing “sport compact tuning scene” when he was the youth marketing manager at Meguiar’s car care products. We crossed paths frequently over the years, as he moved on from Meguiar's to manage Mopar’s first drifting team (featuring a Dodge Viper no less), then into media with DUB magazine and later the launch of his own advertising agency, The Armory.
Until Electrify Expo, the common thread in Birtwell’s career trajectory had been internal combustion. From youth marketing, to motorsports (including growing and selling an off-road racing series), to creating advertisements for major car companies, Birtwell always had his finger on the pulse of what was hot, and just as importantly, what wasn't. On the ’pod, he talks about his initial resistance to EVs and the “Aha!” moment he had that pushed him to launch Electrify Expo in 2021.
What began as an idea for a show for the “EV-curious” and took a year to gestate, is now an eight-city tour across the country, with an eye for overseas expansion. Electrify Expo events draw tens of thousands of visitors interested in sampling not just electric cars, but essentially anything powered by batteries and motors, including bikes, boats, scooters, skateboards, RVs, and more. And the emphasis is on sample, as test drives and rides (even on electric boats in some venues) are a fixture of Electrify Expo events, as we discovered last year with Speedboard.
This unique combination of “try before you buy” across all categories of EVs hasn’t just brought the attendees, it’s bringing in big EV players as well. Birtwell tells us every major car company that sells EVs in America supports his show, including Tesla, which is a huge first for both. Until Electrify Expo, Tesla never advertised or put on ride-and-drive programs at the corporate level.
But, you’re probably asking, consumer’s don’t want EVs, right? Isn’t that the new narrative? Watch the vodcast and see what Birtwell has to say, as there is probably no one more qualified to comment on what American consumers are interested in when it comes to electric vehicles of all shapes and sizes.
Want to know what’s actually going on the ground and in the heads of Americans regarding EVs? This is the episode for you. Check it out here, on YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts (we prefer Podcast One). If you love it, please share it with your friends and leave us a 5-star review. Also, if you have a question you want us to answer on air, email us at [email protected] or DM our Instagrams (@jonnylieberman or @lohdown). We’ll answer the best questions on coming episodes and maybe send you some swag.
2024-06-27T16:45:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd