I was there with my car "showcased" but to be honest, I didn't prepare any pamphlets or poster for my leaf since it's stock; I just needed the guaranteed charge to get home. I put my driving directions on the windshield wiper, which also had the trip distance highlighted.
What I loved about this expo was that it showcased more then just electrics. There were lots of Honda Insights (one with a turbo :shock: ), a VW bug conversion, solar powered ev from UC Berkley (that reportedly gets 30 mi/kWh), numerous diesels, and a Honda Civic GX.
The Rav4 is awesome. I test drove it twice. Honestly, I wish I could have done three times, even with that dinky track. It is a blast to drive, but it does seem to have the typical handling of an SUV of it's size with a bit less roll. I'd leave it in B mode all the time, I love strong regen.
I also test drove the Prius C. Hate the engine noise, the thing complains if you don't drive like a grandma. I wish Toyota made this model plug in too. Felt cheap, but I'm happy it exists. We need cheap hybrids. I just wouldn't get one.
A brand new Nissan Leaf SV was shown off by a local dealer. At some point the two people from the dealership were near my car. I pointed to the CHAdeMO port and said, "This is why I got the leaf. This is what got me into electric cars." I hope I made my point clear about it's importance.
I met the owner of scangauge. I convinced him to look into doing something for the leaf beyond just plucking the gid count out of the CAN bus stream. Seems like nobody filled him in that significant progress has been made to decode the buses.
It was nice to finally meet Phil, his way to upgrade the charger is neat. He just adds a second ~3 kW charger up front. Turns out that big valve cover looking thing is just a big piece of aluminum. Removing it gives enough room for the new charger, which is "Swiss made" and sounds like it costs a pretty penny. Plans on making a kit, but no ETA. It did make me wonder if Nissan could in theory offer an upgrade this way. :roll:
The dinner was good, and I got to sit across from none other then Chelsea Sexton. Soon after her sitting down, Mr. Surfingslovac came in straight from Phoenix. We had a great dinner talking about the latest "developments" among other things.
Overall great time. I got to meet a lot of really interesting people. My only regret is I totally forgot to bring my business cards.
