Tesla Owners - NC Triangle

2023 BRP EV Drive

2018 had 60 cars, 2019 had 120 cars, 2020 had COVID, 2021 we tried to come back but so did COVID, 2022 we made it back! Now in 2023 we're doing it again, and this time for all EVs! Welcome back to the annual(ish) Blue Ridge Parkway EV Drive!

September 30th, 2023
800 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC
Register Here

Saturday - The Gathering

Participants will gather in the large parking lot at the rear of Asheville Outlets by the food court beginning in the morning and check-in to pick up their badges. We will have a huge tent in the parking lot and will focus all activates at that location throughout the event. Food options are being finalized now and will be added to this page when complete.

Fill the Frunk Food Drive for Loving Food Resources

As we have done for multiple years, we are again having a food drive for Loving Food Resources. While they are happy to receive any non-perishable products, they provided the list below of the items they are in most need of now. Items will be collected throughout the day at the event. If you wish to make a monetary donation, please visit their website: www.lovingfood.org and leave BRP EV Drive in the comments for the donation if you would like to have it counted in the event total.

Bag of Sugar
Box of Ice Tea Bags
Box of Spaghetti Pasta
Helper Meal – Tuna or Beef
Box of Saltine Crackers
Box of Vanilla Wafers
Foil pack of Tuna
Box of Cereal
Box of Elbow Macaroni
Dry Soup/Ramen
Shelf Stable Milk-Whole
Can of Chili
Bar Soap
Tube of Toothpaste
Deodorant- Unisex

Saturday - The Drive

The drive will be the same parkway segment that we have done in the past to the southern end. We'll be going in a number of small groups instead of one large continuous line of cars which will allow the drive departures to take place at different times as well as allow flexibility to stop at overlooks. We will try to improve on the experience from last year based on feedback received.

We will depart in groups from the event and travel southwest down the Blue Ridge Parkway through hairpin curves, steep grades, and many tunnels, climbing to an altitude above 6000 feet at one point. The route will have suggested turn around points to travel the parkway back to the event in Asheville. The graphic below shows some suggested points with round trip mileage and times for those points. We will get feedback on what you want to do and set the groups appropriately. Of course, if you have friends already, you can certainly stick together and groups will not be setup until the day of the drive. Groups my decide their own route, we will just try to get groupings based on desired length of drive on the parkway and activity. You may also break away from the group and turn around early if you wish of course.

In addition to the main drive, there is an early morning sunrise option for early birds. A group will be meeting at 7AM Saturday at The Cradle of Forestry Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway to watch the sunrise. That location is about a 30 minute drive from where the event is being held.

Example Drives and Activities (click the graphic to get a larger image)

Saturday Evening

Saturday evening after the drive will be a social event at the big tent in the parking lot with food options to be determined and updated here.

Sunday

Sunday there will be an EV car show for the public run by the Blue Ridge EV Club in the same location. Anyone interested in attending the car show is encouraged to view info and register by going to the link on the main event page here:

BRPEV.com

Tentative Schedule

Friday Sept 29th

5 PM Early check-in and small gathering at the event location - 800 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC

Saturday Sept 30th

7 AM Optional Sunrise meetup at 7 AM at The Cradle of Forestry Overlook Sunrise at 7:24 AM (recommended arrive by 7 AM)

9 AM Check-in opens at the event location

12 PM Lunch under the big tent TBD

1 PM Begin small group departures for the parkway

7 PM Social and dinner under the big tent TBD

Schedule to be adjusted as necessary

Tesla Charging

There are now a total of 40 stalls(stations) across three supercharger locations in Asheville, a 12 stall (4 of which are new 250kW units) in the parking lot of the event at Asheville Outlets, a pair of 8 stall 250kW (16 stalls total) on the east side of Asheville at Tunnel Road, and a 12 stall 250kW 6.5 miles south of the event at Biltmore Park. In addition to those, a 12 stall 250kW supercharger is in Old Fort on I-40 44 miles before getting to the event if coming from the east.

General rule is to charge up as soon as you get to Asheville to allow space for those arriving after you. For those coming in Friday, be sure to charge up to 90% Friday night. After the drive, we will suggest that anyone staying in Asheville Saturday night delay charging if there is a line to give priority to those traveling home Saturday. You will make your own decisions when it comes to use of the superchargers as we can only make suggestions.

For those travelling in the morning of the event
We suggest the following to take some load off the event supercharger if you are travelling in on Saturday morning.

If coming from east of the event on I-40 we suggest routing to the Old Fort or Tunnel Road supercharger and charging to 80% or so.
If coming from Charlotte or south of the event we suggest routing to the Biltmore Park supercharger and charging to 80% or so.

All of those chargers are new 250 kW locations which should provide the fastest and most convenient option for charging coming in. The Tunnel Road supercharger is significantly closer to the event, but is not directly on the route which would add about 10 minutes to your trip if coming from the east.

You can of course charge or top up your battery at the event, but most of the stalls of the event supercharger are older and slower than the options coming in. The slower stalls are great for topping your battery up from 50% to 90% charge and don't charge any slower than the newest chargers when doing this. Below 50% however, they will be a bit slower than the new 250kW chargers.

CCS1 Charging (non-Tesla)

The fast charging options for CCS1 (non-Tesla) vehicles are limited in Asheville. In the immediate vicinity of Asheville there are only 7 total stations(stalls) with 3 of them being only 50kW. There are, however, additional stations that may come online before the event and we will be monitoring their status and update here and via email if any do. In addition to the stations in Asheville, we will update on stations outside of Asheville leading in to give additional options for charging. We will also update on the number of CCS1 (non-Tesla) vehicles registered and planning arrivals to help predict congestion issues.

Hotels

We were not able to secure discounted hotel rooms for this event but below is a list of hotels in proximity to the event location as well as a second set in proximity to the two new superchargers in Asheville. Please make your arrangements soon if you wish to book as many hotels will book up before the event.

Also Available: BRP Tesla Drive Info Document for Self Exploration

All key info is compressed to one page for easy viewing. While there are links in the document, it's also created to be useful in printed form with all key info displayed.

Facebook Group

For discussion of past, current, and future Blue Ridge Parkway Drives:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/246717329357285

2019 Media

2019 Google Photo Album of Event

2018 Media

Facebook
Twitter

Friday Sept 29th
5 PM	Early check-in and small gathering at the event location - 800 Brevard Rd, Asheville, NC
Saturday Sept 30th
7 AM	Optional Sunrise meetup at 7 AM at The Cradle of Forestry Overlook Sunrise at 7:24 AM (recommended arrive by 7 AM)
9 AM	Check-in opens at the event location
12 PM	Lunch under the big tent TBD
1 PM	Begin small group departures for the parkway
7 PM	Social and dinner under the big tent TBD