Fully Charged Live, Britain’s biggest ever motor show for electric cars, is now underway at Silverstone – and the bustling halls suggest the new car show is proving an instant hit. With dozens of new EVs on display, along with charging companies and other electric vehicle experts, there’s even a surprise extra for visitors – a pit garage full of classic cars converted to run on electric.
Headlined by Robert Llewellyn, star of Red Dwarf, Robot Wars and the Fully Charged YouTube show, with the support of Jonny Smith and Helen Czersky, ticket sales for the opening day have vastly exceeded expectations – and so many people have turned up, Silverstone officials have had to open an extra car park to accommodate them all.
“We sold 1,000 tickets last night alone,” Llewellyn told Motoring Research. “We hoped to sell around 5,000 – but it already looks like at least 6,000 people will come.” As tickets remain on sale for the second day of the show on Sunday 10 June, the total could rise even higher.
Llewellyn told us he hoped the show would help dispel some of the myths around electric cars for beginners, as well as showing off leading-edge new technology for electric vehicle evangelists. “Several companies have chosen to launch products here this weekend,” he revealed.
Exhibitors include Ecotricity, whose founder Dale Vince helped Llewellyn open the show, plus Chargemaster, Drive Electric, the Renewable Energy Association and Calvin Capital. Most of the electric cars and plug-ins currently on sale in Britain are on show, with numerous examples of the market-leading new Nissan Leaf, plus the Renault Zoe, Tesla Model S and Model X, Volkswagen E-Golf and Hyundai Ioniq.
Read more: Motoring Research