Casteyanqui.com | Electric Vehicles | NDEM 2025 in Las Vegas

Nat’l Drive Electric Month
in Las Vegas

Mark D Larsen
September 27, 2025

Just (Fossil) Fooling
(Click to enlarge)

It was that time of year for EV advocates to gather together for National Drive Electric Month. I have been attending these celebrations nearly every year since 2012, the sole exception being 2020 because of the COVID pandemic. For several of those years the gathering was designated a National Drive Electric “Day,” then it because a “Week,” and now it is a “Month” to better accomodate the schedules of the organizers in various cities across the nation.
I had signed up to again participate in this year’s EV’ent in Las Vegas. Like in 2023 and 2024, the Clark County Environmental Specialist, Olivia Burns, headed up the effort to host the EV’ent, this time held at the Silverado Ranch Community Center in the south of Las Vegas. I am amazed at the hard work Olivia puts in to set up these gatherings, with so many balls to juggle with the community, auto dealers, the media, EV owners, the venue’s personnel, and the Electric Vehicle Association. Kudos to her!

NOTE: You can click on the following photos to enlarge them, and the movies to play them.

On the road again.

Shortly after taking the above video, I opened the navigation display to show that it predicted I'd arrive at the Silverado Ranch Park with 15% in the battery.

Here you can see the route on the map. I still had an hour and 48 minutes and 121 miles to get there.

After climbing to the top of the Utah Mountain summit, my efficiency was only 2.1 miles-per-kWh.

Here's my favorite spot on the drive with the prospector pack train statues.

After the descent from the summit, the efficiency was now a whopping 5.6 miles-per-kWh.

Halfway to Las Vegas I could see the town of Overton in the distance, where I had stayed on the 2013 and 2014 NDED roadtrips.

Here is the exit to Overton. We took this turnoff to visit the Valley of Fire years ago.

It makes me so happy to see these new solar farms extending across the Nevada desert.

The winds were really starting to pick up because of the storms moving in.

A hazy view of downtown Las Vegas.

Here is a video as Las Vegas came into view.

The storms on the horizon were looking ominous, and I suspected that the NDEM EV'ent might be hit with a clouburst.

When I arrived, there were already many other attendees occupying the parking spaces in the lot, with the storm clouds approaching on the horizon. I managed to find a corner spot, and was quickly dwarfed by a behemoth CyberTruck that parked next to me, as shown in the photo at the top of the page.

I was delighted to see Olivia again. She was very kind to interrupt her duties and let me take this selfie with her.

She and her team were setting up a welcome table and canopy to greet the EV drivers and attendees as they arrived.

A short clip of my silly teaser.

The team asked EV drivers to fill out and post these sheets on our windshields. I might be wrong, but suspect that my total miles of driving on electricity since 2012 was the highest tally at the EV'ent.

A few auto dealers had agreed to give attendees test drives in a selection of their electric vehicles.

In a short time there were hardly any parking spaces left.

I had to chuckle at this sign that a Tesla owner had stuck on the rear window.

Kia had brought both an EV6 and this EV9 to offer test drives to attendees. I bet those with large families would be very tempted by its 3-row interior.

I was frankly amazed to see that Alfa Romeo had brought a hybrid Tonale for folks to check out. I had never seen one before.

The storm was getting nearer, threatening to blow over the EV’ent’s main canopy. They decided to just dismantle it before that happened. My own camp chair blew over, and the V8 sign was knocked loose. I put the chair away and reattached the sign.

I was delighted to again see that the couple who owns an i-MiEV were in attendance. I had first met them at the 2013 NDED and again in 2023 after Mitsubishi had replaced their battery for free. I'm thrilled to see that their i-MiEV is still going strong.

I was intrigued to meet the owner of this F-150 Lightning who had started a mobile business to recharge EVs that had run out of juice away from home or a charger.

I wandered into the Community Center and was impressed with how clean and inviting it was. Now they need to install some solar panels to power the facility as well as the Level 2 chargers in the parking lot.

Next to the lot where we were displaying our EVs was a skatepark where a few youngsters were testing their skills

As the celebration drew to a close, the lot started to empty out. I returned to Rocinante to take down the sign and get ready to drive home.

I set the navigation to take me to the chargers at the Sam’s Club on Craig Road.

I had arrived after driving 151.1 miles that day with an efficiency of 3.7 miles-per-kWh, and 22% still in the battery.

Oddly, even though all four chargers at this site are “Hyper” models, the highest rate I saw was only 180 kW.

Nonetheless, when I unplugged I was still getting 160 kW.

I now had a “guessed” range of 232 miles.

Right when I got out to unplug a Mustang Mach-e pulled in.

I probably had enough charge to make it home, but I decided to navigate to the chargers in Mesquite, regardless. I figured I might as well take advantage of the "free" sessions I have with Electrify America until the 2-year perk expires in four more months.

I arrived in Mesquite after driving 73.4 miles, but with a 2.9 miles-per-kWh efficiency. The good news was that this "Hyper" charger gave me a top rate of 232 kW.

By the time it reached nearly 80%, I was still getting 133 kW.

I now had 234 miles of range to get home —way more than enough.

I unplugged Rocinante and drove home, arriving at 12:30 am. Yawn…!

This was another fun, enlightened EV gathering, despite the threatening weather. Luckily, although the winds were daunting, the raindrops never fell, so we were fortunate that the storm blew over us. Olivia did a great job putting the celebration together, and I hope she will continue to head up these gatherings in the future.
I enjoyed perusing the different models of EVs, chatting with their owners, and answering the questions of curious attendees about the advantages of driving on electricity. I managed to distribute to some of those folks a sheet that I had prepared with all the stats and a map of our most recent trip to the Sacramento area. I hope it helps them understand that it is much easier to take a roadtrip in an EV than the pe’trolls would have them believe. If you would like to download a PDF copy of that sheet, just click this link:

roadtrip.pdf

On the road again.
Shortly after taking the above video, I opened the navigation display to show that it predicted I'd arrive at the Silverado Ranch Park with 15% in the battery.	Here you can see the route on the map. I still had an hour and 48 minutes and 121 miles to get there.
After climbing to the top of the Utah Mountain summit, my efficiency was only 2.1 miles-per-kWh.	Here's my favorite spot on the drive with the prospector pack train statues.
After the descent from the summit, the efficiency was now a whopping 5.6 miles-per-kWh.	Halfway to Las Vegas I could see the town of Overton in the distance, where I had stayed on the 2013 and 2014 NDED roadtrips.
Here is the exit to Overton. We took this turnoff to visit the Valley of Fire years ago.	It makes me so happy to see these new solar farms extending across the Nevada desert.
The winds were really starting to pick up because of the storms moving in.	A hazy view of downtown Las Vegas.
Here is a video as Las Vegas came into view.
The storms on the horizon were looking ominous, and I suspected that the NDEM EV'ent might be hit with a clouburst.	When I arrived, there were already many other attendees occupying the parking spaces in the lot, with the storm clouds approaching on the horizon. I managed to find a corner spot, and was quickly dwarfed by a behemoth CyberTruck that parked next to me, as shown in the photo at the top of the page.
I was delighted to see Olivia again. She was very kind to interrupt her duties and let me take this selfie with her.	She and her team were setting up a welcome table and canopy to greet the EV drivers and attendees as they arrived.
A short clip of my silly teaser.
The team asked EV drivers to fill out and post these sheets on our windshields. I might be wrong, but suspect that my total miles of driving on electricity since 2012 was the highest tally at the EV'ent.	A few auto dealers had agreed to give attendees test drives in a selection of their electric vehicles.
In a short time there were hardly any parking spaces left.	I had to chuckle at this sign that a Tesla owner had stuck on the rear window.
Kia had brought both an EV6 and this EV9 to offer test drives to attendees. I bet those with large families would be very tempted by its 3-row interior.	I was frankly amazed to see that Alfa Romeo had brought a hybrid Tonale for folks to check out. I had never seen one before.
The storm was getting nearer, threatening to blow over the EV’ent’s main canopy. They decided to just dismantle it before that happened. My own camp chair blew over, and the V8 sign was knocked loose. I put the chair away and reattached the sign.	I was delighted to again see that the couple who owns an i-MiEV were in attendance. I had first met them at the 2013 NDED and again in 2023 after Mitsubishi had replaced their battery for free. I'm thrilled to see that their i-MiEV is still going strong.
I was intrigued to meet the owner of this F-150 Lightning who had started a mobile business to recharge EVs that had run out of juice away from home or a charger.	I wandered into the Community Center and was impressed with how clean and inviting it was. Now they need to install some solar panels to power the facility as well as the Level 2 chargers in the parking lot.
Next to the lot where we were displaying our EVs was a skatepark where a few youngsters were testing their skills
As the celebration drew to a close, the lot started to empty out. I returned to Rocinante to take down the sign and get ready to drive home.	I set the navigation to take me to the chargers at the Sam’s Club on Craig Road.
I had arrived after driving 151.1 miles that day with an efficiency of 3.7 miles-per-kWh, and 22% still in the battery.	Oddly, even though all four chargers at this site are “Hyper” models, the highest rate I saw was only 180 kW.
Nonetheless, when I unplugged I was still getting 160 kW.	I now had a “guessed” range of 232 miles.
Right when I got out to unplug a Mustang Mach-e pulled in.	I probably had enough charge to make it home, but I decided to navigate to the chargers in Mesquite, regardless. I figured I might as well take advantage of the "free" sessions I have with Electrify America until the 2-year perk expires in four more months.
I arrived in Mesquite after driving 73.4 miles, but with a 2.9 miles-per-kWh efficiency. The good news was that this "Hyper" charger gave me a top rate of 232 kW.	By the time it reached nearly 80%, I was still getting 133 kW.
I now had 234 miles of range to get home —way more than enough.	I unplugged Rocinante and drove home, arriving at 12:30 am. Yawn…!