Electric cars and battling robots land in Harrogate

Everything Electric North comes to Great Yorkshire Event Centre

Everything Electric, a family friendly outdoor ‘festival of electrification’, visits Harrogate this week. The show will take place at the Great Yorkshire Event Centre in North Yorkshire on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 May.

The event brings together an array of green technologies, including electric vehicles and clean energy innovation in an immersive, hands-on experience.

Visitors will be able to check out a wide range of new and used electric vehicles from manufacturers including BMW, BYD, Fiat, Ford, Geely, Hyundai, IM, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Nissan, Omoda, Peugeot, Polestar, Tesla and Toyota.

With multiple brands and models available in one location, the EV test drive activation offers an opportunity to compare different brands back-to-back in one day. 

The electric vehicles on display include models never previously seen in the UK. Visitors will be among the first in the UK to test drive the BYD Atto 3 EVO

The Electric Theatre will host more than 30 sessions covering EVs, clean energy, sustainable living, and emerging technologies such as AI.

Day one includes a keynote fireside chat between Katie White OBE MP,  minister for climate, and Everything Electric founder Robert Llewellyn (star of Red Dwarf and Scrapheap Challenge), restating the case for net zero and the urgency of addressing the climate crisis.

Speakers from the EV and energy sector will include:

• Dan Caesar, CEO - Everything Electric
• Helen Czerski, Presenter, Everything Electric
• Robert Llewellyn, Founder - Everything Electric
• Katie White OBE MP, Minister for Climate
• Anneliese Allen-Norris - Urban Foresight
• Simon Buckley, Knowledge Transfer Manager - Zero Emission Mobility - Innovate UK
• Chris Durden, National Fleet Sales Manager, Corporate & Public Sector – Geely
• Peter Eggeman, Programme Manager – Fleet Support - Energy Saving Trust
• Ashley Grealish, Co-Founder and CEO - Windfall Energy
• Jeanette Griggs, National Corporate & Public Sector Manager - BYD
• Paul Kirby - Electric Van Man
• Lorna McAtear, Head of Fleet - National Grid
• Euan McTurk, Consultant Battery Electrochemist - Plug Life Consulting
• Gill Nowell - Global Women in EV Day/EVA England
• Stef Peeters, General Manager – Flexibility - Centrica
• Hannah Platts-Levett, Electrification Organiser - Electrify Britain
• Stuart Porro, Head of Content - Big Motoring World
• Daveena Saranna - Autotrader 
• Tanya Sinclair, Chief Executive - Electric Vehicles UK
• Phil Steele, Future Technologies Evangelist - Octopus Energy
• Josey Wardle, Innovation Lead - V2G & EV Charging, Innovate UK UKRI
• Warren Whyte, President - Tesla Owners Club

In response to rising demand for fleet electrification and salary sacrifice schemes, Friday will also host a dedicated B2B EV Day running alongside the consumer show. Business visitors will benefit from expert-led sessions, financial insights, and extensive EV test drive opportunities across multiple manufacturers.

The Commercial Vehicle Zone will showcase electric vans, pick-ups, and commercial EVs, alongside car test drives and expert advice to find the right fit for your business. It will be open during B2B EV Day on Friday and the consumer event on Saturday with brands including Citroën, Ford, Isuzu, Kia, Morris Commercial and VW.

Robert Llewellyn will host Robots LIVE in Harrogate for the first time, featuring battling machines from BBC’s Robot Wars Live! The high-energy mechanical battles run multiple times across Friday and Saturday.

Families can also take part in the Power Heroes Trail, an interactive sustainability challenge designed for children, where they solve superpower clues, win prizes, and learn about sustainability in action. Additional attractions include a bouncy castle, simulator games, and electric bike test rides in the micro-mobility zone.

Visitors will be able to explore the latest in home energy solutions, including solar, battery storage and heat pumps. Eleven Energy will showcase next-generation home energy storage, including stackable sodium-ion batteries and a new hybrid inverter range. Experts from Vaillant and Heat Geek will provide bookable one-to-one advice sessions tailored to reducing both energy costs and carbon emissions.

The Harrogate event is the first of three Everything Electric festivals taking place in the UK this year. Everything Electric visits Cheltenham in June and London in September.

Since launching the live events in 2018, Robert Llewellyn and his have has taken Electric Everything on tour around the world, with festivals of electrification in Amsterdam, Austin, Farnborough, Harrogate, London, Melbourne, San Diego, Silverstone and Sydney. In that time, welcoming more than half a million attendees and delivering more than 150,000 battery EV test drives.

UK show dates & locations

Everything Electric North
When: 8-9 May
Where: Great Yorkshire Events Centre, Harrogate

Everything Electric West
When: 12-13 June
Where: Cheltenham Racecourse

Everything Electric Greater London
When: 11-12 September
Where: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham