Will it Blend? Teslas & Tacos or Record-Setting National Drive Electric Week Event in Buffalo

November 8, 2023

While many National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) events fall into the familiar mold of “a group of EVs and their owners in a parking lot interacting with the public” (and there’s nothing wrong with that!), there are some events that simply break the mold and do their own thing. This was certainly the case with the Greater Buffalo NDEW event held last Wednesday night.

Dubbed "An Evening of Electrifying Taste [ in Food + Automobiles ]", the parking lot shared the spotlight with the AuburnWatson Culinary Arts Center, where local master chef Mike A. was on-hand demonstrating culinary skills and handing out complimentary samples.

Though seemingly unrelated, making the culinary-EV connection was natural for AuburnWatson owner Wayne Watson, who also happens to be a huge EV and Tesla fan, having owned many Teslas himself over the years. The Culinary Arts Center is also home to several EV chargers.

Though it shared the spotlight, the parking lot was by no means relegated to merely a supporting role. It was extraordinarily well-stocked with EVs from both local dealerships and private owners. To describe that scene, we’ll hand things off to the event organizers…

Picture a regionally record-setting array of EVs from Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Jaguar, Kia, Nissan, and Tesla--all on the same lot, provided by automotive staff--plus a complement of other brands brought in by participants . . . from a $4,000 pre-owned smart ed to a six-figure Tesla Model X P100DL. Even a Zero motorcycle!

We welcomed an astonishing 180 attendees within a one-hour radius, and one automotive retail team with a marathon commute from Cleveland. Nearly a hundred demonstration drives and rides stretched from 5 p.m to 9 p.m. under ideal late-summer conditions. Traffic control staffers in hi-viz vests directed the stream of vehicles onto the Culinary Arts Center at AuburnWatson property.

The entire front and rear lots on site ended up packed with vehicles and roaming tire kickers, many with Mexican fare prepared indoors by top local chef Mike A. and his dedicated crew. On top of it all, many who attended donated overwhelming amounts of non-perishable food for Feed More WNY, including an entire e-tron full of packaged food courtesy of Audi Buffalo.

The takeaway from this whirlwind, via one of the volunteers: We finally broke the "glass ceiling" by assembling all the major EV vendors from the area. No tension, only the startling opposite when every team and participant mingled, aware that the EV era has fully arrived. Between the food, the people and the cars . . . we hit this one out of the park.

Click here to see more photos from this event

In conclusion, and in answer to this article's facetious title, yes Teslas (and EVs of all brands) do in fact blend very well with tacos when both are served with knowledge and enthusiasm! In other news, we regret to report that next week's event, "Lambos and Lattes" has been cancelled due to lack of interest - it seems lattes are just too expensive for the average Joe these days :)

P.S. Special thanks to...