2025 Highlights
The 2nd annual Road Trip began a little differently than the first one. This time, we kicked off the fundraiser with a live band (Dave Zollo and Brian Cooper), appetizers (sponsored by Driftless Medical Spa), a cash bar, and a silent auction. Several La Crosse area businesses either donated items to our cause, or were featured with donations by various chapter members. After our kick off party on Friday August 15th, all the driving took place on Saturday August 16th. The group started in La Crosse, drove along Highway 61 south-bound through Boscobel and on to the Potosi Brewery for a tour. We finished the Road Trip by driving East along Highway 151 and ended the Road Trip with a tour of Hoffman EV in Madison.
Electric Kick-off!
Once again this year, we had a fun and fantastic group. Pictured here is Dave Zollo and Brian Cooper, of Dave Zollo & the Body Electric, jamming out for us. Zollo and Cooper provided basically the perfect music for us to kick off our 2025 fundraiser. At our kick off event, a total of 29 people showed up, including a US House of Representatives member, several La Crosse area residents, and one adorable hotel guest & her parents who came to enjoy the music.
Kick-off Highlights
While Zollo and Cooper provided the perfect environment for people to network, talk and have a good time, there was also a cash bar and a silent auction. The following items were donated by La Crosse area businesses and Wisconsin EVA chapter members:
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Photography packages donated Mueller Photography in La Crosse.
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A signed Packer helmet donated by a Wisconsin EVA chapter member.
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2 La Crosse area restaurant gift cards donated by a Wisconsin EVA chapter member.
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Several car detailing packages donated by Detail Clinic of La Crosse.
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A 2024 team signed Packer football donated by the Green Bay Packers.
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A one night hotel stay package donated by the Radisson La Crosse.
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The music and appetizer bar was sponsored by Driftless Medical Spa of Prairie du Chien. All proceeds from the silent auction went directly to the Wisconsin EVA Scholarship Fund.
Potosi Brewery Tour
Participants drove with us on Saturday August 16th. Our first stop was the National American Breweriana Museum. We participated in a self guided tour of the site, which housed many cool beer artifacts from the last century plus. Participants then had lunch at the Potosi Brewery restaurant before heading off to our final stop in Madison, WI.
One of the coolest things to see was this converted electric DeLorean (converted by Hoffman EV) charging directly from the 40amp outlet in the bed of the Tesla CyberTruck. The electric DeLorean is so cool in it's own right, but this illustrates the versatility of electric pickup trucks. In addition to the CyberTruck, the Chevy Silverado Work Truck pictured below has a 30amp outlet that could have been utilized for this purpose. The Ford F-150 Lightning and GMC Sierra EV (neither of which were in this year's Road Trip) also have the capability to deliver lots of power, using the truck's battery pack, right from an outlet in the bed.
Other Potosi Highlights
Mini Cooper Clubman Electric. Loaned to us by Mini of Madison. Thanks again!
Front...
...and back of the Chevy Silverado Work Truck. This is a fleet vehicle for Xcel Energy and was driven by their new EV Program Manager.
*BTW...this truck is a beast, 450 miles of range, super quick, outlets all over the place, and very comfy interior.
2025 Finish Line: Hoffman EV
Participants finished off the 2025 Road Trip with a tour of Hoffman EV (part of Hoffman Manufacturing) in Madison, WI. This one of a kind facility does (among other things) conversions. A conversion is when someone takes the engine and all its components OUT of a gas car and replaces it with batteries and motors. Hoffman EV specializes in this work and has converted a few DeLorean cars, a Land Rover, a Bentley, and a few other vehicles.
The company's owner (himself a Wisconsin EVA chapter member), gave us a tour of the facility showing us their high tech lasers, where they make components for things like IKEA furniture displays and high security display cases, and then showed us a unique EV they were creating almost from scratch. By recycling the parts from a used EV for this project, they are building every component of a one of a kind EV. When complete it will be part mini-van, part pick-up truck, and completely awesome!
Which EVs Participated?
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Tesla Model Y
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Tesla Cybertruck
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Chevy Silverado Work Truck
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Mini Cooper Clubman Electric
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BMW iX M50
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Converted electric DeLorean
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Fisker Ocean
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Chevy Equinox
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Tesla Model S
Thank you sponsors!
The support from these generous sponsors goes directly into the Wisconsin EVA scholarship fund. This fund will help send any Wisconsin resident to a school or tech college to learn how to work on EVs. The scholarships we will award are the number one reason the Wisconsin EVA does the Road Trip. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
-Jeremiah Brockman,
Wisconsin chapter president
