Next San Diego EVent: Sat, Aug 9, 2014, CANCELLED

[ttweed]

I'll give it shot and try contacting the Commander. I was hoping retired military with connections following this thread could help out.

I don't think the base commander is the place to start researching this idea, myself. I would start with the Federal Energy Management Program, specifically the Fleet Management portion of their effort, which is responsible for the pilot projects the feds have going on for BEVs and EVSE installations, and educate myself regarding what federal programs/contracts/regulations are in place already or contemplated that might apply to or effect your proposal, positively or negatively.

Having worked in a large bureaucracy myself, I would suggest that the commander will probably refer you to the fleet manager of the base, anyway. With all the fuss that took place over federal employees charging their own personal vehicles at federal buildings already, I imagine it will take an act of Congress to allow public charging on federal installations. Seriously! And you know how easy it is to get Congress to agree on anything these days, if you listen to the news at all. :evil:

TT

 

[TonyWilliams]

Yes, I agree on the act of Congress !! Folks looking for an easier way are probably not going to be with anything federal government. Even the Obama Bucks that Ecotality has access to is full of strings that make installations anything but cheaper or easier... and that's on non-federal land.

Hope to see you all in two weeks.

 

[cwerdna]

Funny... when I saw the title, I was thinking of the Nissan logo. Some Nissan followers/enthusiasts refer to the logo/emblem as being the/a hamburger.

 

[EV2E]

I hope to attend and bring my Cayene Red LEAF.
Frank

 

[TonyWilliams]

I hope to attend and bring my Cayene Red LEAF.
Frank

See ya in a bit less than 2 weeks.

 

[electricfuture]

Tony,

I met Mike Cully, the local manager of Car2Go who has been taking the heat for their vehicles blocking the few public charging stations available. He asked if he could speak at the meeting as he too is seeking resolution to the problem Blink created and is open to suggestions from Leaf owners. He has been meeting with the S.D. police to deal with the growing complaints.

Can he be added to the venue? In the mean time I'll give him the meeting info.

Thanks.

Also, I'll have our Leaf there with the newly installed wood dash kit if anyone is interested.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Absolutely, lets have him there!

I love the service, and have used it several times, but there are several issues. Part of the reason I got the Car2go card was so that I could move their cars out of the charging spots!

A few weeks ago, with a combination of failed Blinks and failed Car2go's, I still couldn't get a charger.

Like last month, let's plan arrivals and breakfast from 9am -10am and meeting start at 10am. Obviously, as we add participants, like the last meeting, it will probably run to 12 noon.

Tony

 

[TonyWilliams]

Our 5th guest speaker; David Bliss, CEO of ChargeBliss will also attend. If you're interested in Quick Charging your LEAF, you don't want to miss this one.

Also, the folks at the restaurant asked that we not order our breakfasts all at once!!

 

[walterbays]

Our 5th guest speaker; David Bliss, CEO of ChargeBliss will also attend. If you're interested in Quick Charging your LEAF, you don't want to miss this one.

If ChargeBliss can make good on this claim from their web site (emphasis added) they'll get a hero's welcome and plenty of business. Given what I know of SDG&E's demand charges, I'm skeptical of any such claims from ChargeBliss or EVOasis. Skeptical but hoping!

FOR far less than the price of a gasoline fill-up, EV drivers may extend the range of their vehicle in order to accomplish daily driving tasks or to travel to the rest of their region without RANGE ANXIETY.

The skeptic in me says that while this could mean that it costs less than gasoline on a mile for mile basis, it could also mean that you can get 60 miles of quick charge range for less than it costs to fill the 23 gallon tank of a Hummer. :twisted:

 

[KMG365]

This meetup is looking like it is shaping up to be one that I'd really NOT like to have to miss.

I'm going to look into seeing if I can get a half shift off so I can join you all. Please put me down for a tentative "IN!" (pending approval of leave for Saturday morning/afternoon).

 

[TonyWilliams]

After being humbled by our Bay area brother's and sister's meeting last month, I had to do something! Yes, I suspect you will miss a great discussion on all things DC charging.

Walter, I did talk to the Charge Bliss guy today, and he certainly seems to know the issues well. I'm curious to see what capital is behind it, because this is a capital HOG with long/low ROI.

 

[KMG365]

Yes, I suspect you will miss a great discussion on all things DC charging.

Rats. I knew it was going to be too good to miss.

BTW, I had a chat with my contact at Baker Electric today (one of the contractors ECOtality is using for their Blink installs) and they told me they actually installed quite a few Blink chargers on the campus of SDSU (in PS 4, 5, 6, 8, and the Children's Center) as well as at Mesa Community College, City College and Miramar College. She also mentioned that they have already made a proposal to Westfield at Horton Plaza for an install, but I don't know the latest status on that project. She's also looking into the possibility of putting a listing of their installs up on their website for us to access LONG before they ever appear on the Blink Network site. I'll let you know how that shapes up.

I'll do my best to secure the morning off to attend the meetup!

Cheers,

Jamie

 

[KMG365]

Got coverage for the morning. See you there!

 

[Herm]

It would be nice if you guys could video and upload these meetings..

 

[Randy]

I spoke to Andy this afternoon, and he will definitely be attending as planned.

In addition, he has also invited new ECOtality Area Sales Specialist Dave Gotcha to the meeting as well. Dave just joined and will be helping the local ECOtality team.

Andy also has some good news to share with respect to the number of contracts signed in the last month of 2011 that will translate to additional public EV charging infrastructure.

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!

 

[TonyWilliams]

It would be nice if you guys could video and upload these meetings..

I'm not going to promise a posted video, but I'll bring the camera!

NOTICE: everybody will be spared a test on the LEAF !

Hasta mañana todos

Tony

 

[gbarry42]

Tony gave out a few prizes for various LEAF-related stats. For "who had the highest serial number", nobody had a 2012 model! I guess we are all early adopters

 

[TonyWilliams]

 

[cbiwww]

Tony, et al, that was an excellent meeting - thanks for getting it together!

 

[TonyWilliams]

Tony, et al, that was an excellent meeting - thanks for getting it together!

You're welcome.

Obviously, I didn't expect a standing room only event, and I did try and get a larger room at the last minute. Should we use that venue again, we'll use the larger meeting room nearby.

I gave away 100% organic cotton "Love My LEAF" shirts to Randy Schimka for having the lowest serial number 191, and the highest serial number, over 9000, to Jamie Edmonds (ran out of XL size... gotta mail him one).

Also, the longest drive to the event in a LEAF was Dave Bliss, who also got a shirt. Thanks to everybody who bought a shirt.

I arrived at 9am, and there was already numerous LEAFs at the restaurant. While I stood outside talking with people, over the next 20 or 30 minutes, the cars just kept coming. I'm not sure how many we were there, since we didn't all park in one spot. The usual Saturday morning farmer's market was going, which takes up much of the parking lot to the south. For the future, I recommend that we park together at the parking lot across the street to the east (across Midland Road near the train depot).

The city manager of the park seemed very interested in some car charger installs, so I'll work on that a bit.

We started the meeting right at 10am, and went straight through until 12 noon. We started with fellow LEAF owner Vic talking about his wood trimmed interior. Then we had Kevin from the California Center for Sustainable Energy (the guys that send you that $5000 or $2500 check). He mentioned that in the March/April time frame, they are going to have a BMW Active i.

Then, Mike Cully from Car2Go spoke a new project that he is starting specifically for EV drivers. He thought my sales pitch/introduction was good enough to be on his payroll !!!

Andy Hoskinson from Ecotality introduced his new San Diego area sales specialist, Dave Gotcha (he got a Love My Leaf t-shirt, too). Lots of questions that I let somebody else detail.

Angus Clark of EV Oasis spoke next, with goals for 100 - 200 DC charger in 36 months, with a goal to all be less than 500 feet from a freeway. He is planning an "event" sometime in Feb, and has invited us all to attend.

Dave Bliss of ChargeBliss brought his whole team; VP Doug March, CTO Derek Daw, and his San Diego based partners at Skelly Electric, Kevin Weinburg and Jim Kelly.

I spoke on my plans for DC quick charging.

Finally, Randy Walsh of Meissner Jacquet announced his $60,000 budget program, with chargers in Santa Isabel (near Julian), Ramona, and La Mesa. He fully intends to invite us all should he get that first Ecotality QC up and running!!!

Lots of folks hung around for up to an hour after the meeting.

Great meeting, and look forward to the next.

Tony