Feature Confirmed! Dave Hymers!

Resident EV expert!

Have you ever noticed how EVs are a lot like the electric, RC cars we all loved when we were kids? Have you noticed how many people are making their own EVs these days—out of all kinds of neat vehicles? Have you ever thought maybe you could build one yourself?

At the same time, have you been thinking you can’t do your current job forever—and wouldn’t want to even if you could? Maybe you’ve been thinking back on your roots and revisiting old ideas in new ways. Maybe you reboot then with what you know now?

You’re gonna want to meet Dave Hymers.

Why Dave Hymers?

Recently, I was out on a dirt road east of Phoenix with Joshua Mead and told him about the day Dave Hymers and I first met in person—at a hole-in-the-wall convenience store in Winkelman, Arizona. At the time, I drove a ratty Galant VR4 and he drove a slightly nice, bugeye WRX wagon. We fancied ourselves would-be rallyx organizers and were scouting roads.

We were looking for a ghost town called Christmas. No shit.

Unfortunately, after dozens of back and forth trips up and down the highway, looking for the road to Christmas, some friendly churchgoers told us the big mine had bought the town and there was no way of accessing it, let alone talking them into letting us race cars there. Bummer. Dave had made us RallyAZ decals and everything.

Fast forward a few years, and Dave’s sold the WRX. He’s built an electric go-kart.

Fast forward a couple more, and now he’s built himself an electric Hilux, charged by solar panels.

Dave got out of the vinyl business and went into solar. Hey, do what you believe in, right? He’s proven himself a serious student of all things sustainable—from the solar panels charging his electric vehicles to the rainwater collection systems keeping his home garden lush through the Arizona summer.

That gearhead life

Of course, while Arizona might be a natural choice for solar power—for anyone with half a brain and no financial stake in limiting competition—installing solar isn’t exactly the sort of thing you want to spend much time doing, personally.

You know, spending all day working up on the roof. In Arizona. Where it gets ridiculously hot.

So while Dave continues to be my go-to-guy for all things EV and DIY EV conversion, he’s also looking to diversify and get better alignment between the things he’s good at, can make money at, and enjoys doing. And, he’s looking to iterate on all of the above and evolve to the next level.

[ This past weekend, we talked ] about EVs, solar installs, rebooting a decal business, and building the next chapter with the tools collected building the foundation.

Because Dave’s the man.

How does he do it?

That’s what we’re gonna find out!

If you’ve done enough with cars to know you could do anything you put your mind to doing, and your automotive interests have evolved significantly over the years—maybe even from rally racing to EVs—or if you’ve got the itch to get after the next level—but feel like you’re just not sure what to do next, you’re gonna want to catch this conversation.

Would you like to know more?

Dave started sharing a DIY EV conversion primer right as GBXM was in its final days. If I have my druthers, I’m going to suss the rest of this thing out of him, polish it, and get it available here on TGP later this year. Part 1: Fantastic Voyage, Part 2: The Basics, Part 3: It’s Lightning, Y’all.

You can also find Dave at Marana Decals on Facebook.