SF Bay Area: Green Drive Expo 9/15/12

[LEAFer]

The Rav4 is awesome. I test drove it twice. Honestly, I wish I could have done three times, ...

You can have your 3rd drive ... it's coming to Sacramento Sep 20 (Thursday) (See Day 6 at http://www.toyota.com/RAV4EV/tour/event-details.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false

Thanks for the report.

 

[mwalsh]

What's with the mods under the hood on the white LEAF? Is that a 2013?

 

[palmermd]

What's with the mods under the hood on the white LEAF? Is that a 2013?

That would be Ingineer's car with the EVSEupgrade, LeafScan and the dual 3.3kW chargers. By removing the "valve cover" from the top of the inverter, he made room for a second 3.3kW battery charger.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

What's with the mods under the hood on the white LEAF? Is that a 2013?

That would be Ingineer's car with the EVSEupgrade, LeafScan and the dual 3.3kW chargers. By removing the "valve cover" from the top of the inverter, he made room for a second 3.3kW battery charger.

ya figured as much especially with modified Nissan Brick sitting there. very cool

 

[Phoenix]

You mean I don't have to buy a 2013 LEAF for its 6.6 kw charger? Great! When does it go on sale and for how much?

 

[Deleted member 3147]

You mean I don't have to buy a 2013 LEAF for its 6.6 kw charger? Great! When does it go on sale and for how much?

Phil stated that he feels it is too expensive for the average Leaf owner (I think he was talking around $4K) so he's targeting it to fleet owners. In any case, I don't think he's ready to start selling yet; he really focusing on the Leafscan right now.

He did talk a bit about technical details. Apparently, the BMS broadcasts on the CAN bus the current allowed charging voltage/current and, for most of the charge cycle, it will accept well over 6KW. So he snoops the CAN bus and limits his add-on charger to the difference between what the BMS wants and what the standard charger will supply. Also, I think he monitors the J1772 pilot signal to make sure the two chargers don't overload the EVSE.

(Note: I am not an expect on this so I may have part of this wrong. If there is an error, it's more likely me than Phil.)

 

[gascant]

Any idea how many people attended? I was there last year, but not this time. How was the speaker program?

 

[EVDrive]

When I was there at 1:00 pm there was basically no wait to drive the Rav EV and they had three to drive. I thought there were way less people this year than last year.

The pluses.
- There was a converted Prius truck. Lots of cutting with a torch and bondo.
- There was a Model S. What a gorgeous car. I want one, I want it...
- The Rav 4 was awesome to drive, powerful, solid handling, roomy and comfortable. Amazing piece of engineering work. There is only one thing missing from the Rav 4 and that is quick charging. I love the quick charge feature on the Leaf. I hate waiting forever for my car to charge. What the hell toyota, I thought you were in the CHAdeMO camp. Prove it. Same goes for you ford, prove you want to make EVs work by offering quick charging. I would buy the Rav 4 without a doubt if it had a quick charging.

The minuses.
- Chelsea... hasn't bought an EV but tells others to. Lead by example Chelsea. Was a fan, not a fan anymore. Bla bla bla it's all the carmakers fault for not making EVs. Well there are some on sale and in my opinion we should all buy the best one for our driving needs to encourage more investment and innovation by automakers. Same thing she says but I walk the talk. People like us and Chelsea should be the first to buy.
- No model s test drives.
-

 

[Phoenix]

Any idea how many people attended? I was there last year, but not this time. How was the speaker program?

I was there from around noon to 2PM. Didn't seem as crowded as last year. The space used inside the Pavilion seemed smaller too. Less featured speakers (just 3 besides the host: Ron DeLong, Saving Gas Using Technology; Chelsea Sexton in Q&A; and Robb Prothoe, Do-It Yourself Plug-in Supply. Mainly came to test drive the RAV-4. Too large a car--wish Toyota and/or Tesla would make an all-electric compact size EV. Even Tesla's future Model X is still too big.

 

[Ingineer]

Sadly, this show doesn't get the turnout or vendor support it needs. I wasn't able to sell anything, and most of the people I talked to were already customers or were aware of us. Seems overall like most of the attendees were already EV or Hybrid owners. Definitely less attendance than last year.

I love the venue, (and it's close to where I live) but it might attract a wider audience if it was more centrally located. Maybe San Mateo or thereabouts. It would also help to have a large parking lot outdoors where there could be an EV-only area so more owners could come and mingle.

-Phil

 

[palmermd]

it also got very little advertising this year. I did not find any ads/links about it until just weeks prior to the event. Google seems to know everything else I'm interested in and the ads seem to find there way onto my screen wherever I go.

 

[gascant]

Thanks, everyone, for your answers to my questions about attendance/program. Maybe we can circle back with EVPowers, the event organizer, to provide suggestions for next year. I'd start by seeing whether it can be included as a "wing" of the San Francisco Auto Show.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

Sadly, this show doesn't get the turnout or vendor support it needs. I wasn't able to sell anything, and most of the people I talked to were already customers or were aware of us. Seems overall like most of the attendees were already EV or Hybrid owners. Definitely less attendance than last year.

I love the venue, (and it's close to where I live) but it might attract a wider audience if it was more centrally located. Maybe San Mateo or thereabouts. It would also help to have a large parking lot outdoors where there could be an EV-only area so more owners could come and mingle.

-Phil

it is much smaller than the Madison version and still in its infancy. this is like the 3rd or 4th one?