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National
Drive Electric Month
EV
Association of San Diego Ride and Drive
at
the San Diego Automotive
Museum
San
Diego, CA
September
19, 2026
Featured: Soon to be released Aptera, to current battery electrics, to electric conversions, to 1907 auto in the museum.
Report
by Carl Morrison, Carl@TeslaTouring.com
(Most photos can be clicked on to view a larger image in a new browser tab.)
Left,
the 1956 Chevy 210 Del Ray I traded for over 50% of the purchase
price of a 2020 Tesla Model 3.
Right,
our 2021 Model Y that I drove to this event [Photo Credit: My Model Y and ChatGPT's 1956]
https://teslatouring.com/carl/EVA2026/
Table of Contents
I. Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego's description of the event.
II. National Drive Electric's description of the event
III. My Photos and descriptions of the event
IV. San Diego Automotive Museum photos and descriptions
V. Links for this report
EV
Association of San Diego's description of the event:
|
Day:
|
Saturday, September 19, 2026
|
|
Time:
|
9:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
|
|
Location:
|
San Diego Automotive Museum
2080 Pan American Plaza
San Diego, CA 92101
|
Test
drives
provided by Tesla Y and Cybertruck from Tesla in Encinitas, CA.
Test
rides provided
by 14 EVA members
Aptera
had their vehicle on display, made in nearby Carlsbad, California.
Aptera*
vehicle made in Carlsbad, California - Photo from EV
Association of San Diego
Aptera
has two front wheels and one rear wheel- an autocycle...it
is registered as a trike motorcycle but you will not need a
motorcycle driver’s license nor need a helmet.
*”an
energy efficient electric two-seat three-wheeler solar electric
vehicle. The company is based in Carlsbad, California. It was founded
in 2019 and became publicly traded in 2025.”
From:
https://aptera.us/ Good video about
the Aptera: https://aptera.us/vehicle/
Test
drives and
rides were available in a variety of EVs, including Teslas, Kias,
VWs, Nissans, Rivian and more.
“Grid
Alternatives” will have reps on hand to answer questions about the
Clean Cars 4 All and Driving Clean programs.
The
EV Association
of San Diego had information and owners on hand to answer questions
about driving electric, SDG&E used EV $1,000-$4,000 rebate
program, My First EV $3500 incentive program.
People who take a
test drive or ride will receive a free admission ticket to the SD
Automotive Museum, a $20 value, plus $10 cash if you took a
ride/drive of a Tesla sales Model Y or Cybertruck.
There were 40
attendees registered who report 3,271,826 electric
miles driven.
Owners of These Vehicles
Registered To Attend
|
Vehicle
|
Registered
|
|
Tesla Model Y**
|
7
|
|
Tesla Model 3
|
3
|
|
Tesla Model S
|
3
|
|
Chevrolet Bolt
|
2
|
|
Ford Mustang Mach-E
|
2
|
|
Aptera LE
|
1
|
|
Chevrolet Equinox EV
|
1
|
|
Chevrolet Volt
|
1
|
|
Kia EV6
|
1
|
|
Nissan LEAF
|
1
|
|
Polestar 2
|
1
|
|
Rivian R1S
|
1
|
|
Tesla Cybertruck
|
1
|
|
Toyota RAV4 Prime 4WD/AWD
|
1
|
|
Volkswagen ID.4
|
1
|
|
15 Models
|
27
|
From:
https://driveelectricmonth.org/event?eventid=5440
**I
drove our Model Y (below) on Full Self Driving
(Supervised) the full 200+ mile round trip Anaheim to San Diego
Balboa Park.
National
Drive Electric's Description of the event:
"Join
us for
National
Drive Electric Month
Sep 11-Oct 12,
2026
National Drive
Electric Month, is a nationwide celebration to
raise awareness of the many benefits of all-electric and plug-in
hybrid cars, trucks, motorcycles, and more. Whether you’re curious
to learn about driving electric, want to get involved in supporting
an event, or are ready to help organize within your community, you’re
in the right place!
About
the Campaign
Driving
Change Since 2011
What started as a
single day of electric vehicle (EV) celebrations
in 2011 grew into a week-long nationwide effort and has now expanded
even further as a month-long campaign focused on raising awareness
about the benefits of driving electric. National Drive Electric Month
includes hundreds of local community events across the U.S. and
beyond.
The campaign is
led by Plug In America in collaboration with a
network of national partners and supported by local partners,
volunteers, and event organizers. Together, we aim to accelerate the
shift to cleaner, more sustainable transportation by helping people
experience EVs firsthand and see how they fit into everyday life."
From:
https://driveelectricmonth.org/
Anaheim is
about 2 hours from this event in Balboa Park in San Diego so I got to
see a rare sunrise as I left Anaheim.
This event was immediately in front of the San Diego
Automotive Museum (right above) in San Diego Balboa Park.
At the registration booth for those showing their EV or offering rides
in their EV, were several informative posters
This handout of EVs currently available is arranged from lowest to
highest priced
For a larger copy, double click the image above.
EV Association of San Diego information above and below from their
website promoting EVs
From: SanDiegoEV.org
Aptera which is built in
nearby Carlsbad, California, had a vehicle at the show.
Aptera says that if you live in a temperate zone like Southern
California, the built in-solar panels will make it not needing outside
charging. Otherwise, it has the NACS (Tesla) charging plug.
Tesla of Encinitas gave Full Self Driving (Supervised) demonstration
rides a few blocks through traffic around Balboa Park in a new Model Y
or Cybertruck. I chose the new Model Y.
I actually used FSD
all the way from Anaheim in a 2021 Tesla Model Y, but I wanted to see
how the new model differed. It did not have some jerky moments
line our 2021 does, and it can actually go to Unsupervised Full Self
Driving with its new Hardware 4.
To set up the self-driving demo., he went to one section of the park,
parked and set it as "Work", then went back to the event and set it as
"Home".
I have 2,658 miles of FSD (Supervised) logged in our Model Y, 75% of
the time I have had FSD.
This section of Balboa Park has several museums. Above, Air an
Space.
Starlight Bowl, Comic Con Museum. Several planes landed close
above as I walked around the cul de sac.
As we registered we were directed to a special parking area.
2021 Tesla Model Y and new Tesla Model Y
Tesla
Model 3 and Chevy Equinox
Cars offering rides eventually had information sheets on the windshield
like Johnny's.
There were electric conversions there as well with their business cards
for more information.
I took a ride in a Rivian (forgot to take a photo) and Kevin gave me
his card and talked about his business, above.
He manufactures software for a unit to check battery information of
Tesla Ss an Xs for companies doing work on batteries.
Kevin also showed me the converter he would use on his Rivian to use
the Tesla Supercharger network. I was surprised at the weight:
A CCS to NACS
adapter generally costs between $70 and $235, and weighs between 1.3
and 2.9 pounds (approx. 600g to 1.3 kg) depending on the specific model
and manufacturer. Non-Tesla owners can use the Tesla Supercharger
network at Tesla owner prices for a fee of $12.99 a month, or without
the monthly fee they pay about 50% more to charge.
Free
admission to the San Diego Automotive Museum was a deciding factor in
my attending this free event, a $20 value.
(Most photos can
be double-clicked on a computer for a larger image.)
Just inside the museum door is a nice collection of Automotive Brightwork, of pre-war automobile radiator caps.
Obviously they are soon to undergo a remodeling. But the vehicle
on the right gave a hint as to what could be found around the edges.
Center, why it is called "dual cowl".
1936 Pierce-Arrow Deluxe 8 Convertible Sedan with suicide-type doors.
The "bird", above left, was the hood ornament for this 1955 Chevy Nomad as well as all models in 1956. 
Special treatment in my report for this Cord, maybe because they were made in my home state, Indiana, and where we bought our 1956 restored Chevy.
"Gull winged" Mercedes. Tesla Model X has "Falcon" winged doors with an extra hinge allowing closer parking.
I've seen a video of this car and remembered the second-from-the-bottom bullet point - "can change tires while moving".
(Double-click any image for a larger copy.)
Front seat, back seat, on-the-move tire changing setup.
There are not many places or times when you can see the oldest auto and newest auto at the same time!
REO stood for Ramson Eli Olds' initials, of Oldsmobile fame. He left Oldsmobile and created this automobile 1907-1909 which outsold Oldsmobile. REO trucks were made until 1967 when it merged with Diamond.
Views since September 28, 2006
Links
[ Back to the top of this page
|
Table of Contents
|
Electric Vehicle Association of San Diego |
National Drive Electric Month |
San Diego Automotive Museum |
Aptera |
Over 50 other Tesla reports by Carl Morrison |
Over 100 Tesla Travel Reports & Other EV Travel News
|
Tesla Touring Facebook page with nearly 6,000 likes ]
Click here for a slideshow of all above photos.
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