BC2BC Mexico to Canada via Electric Highway June 12-20, 2012

Three kids are 23, 12, 10. My youngest (daughter) is with me. Starting late this morning, won't be at Lag Beach until about 11am.

I love his daughter saying, "I thought we were going to Montana." Tony, you should have warned her about the side trip!

Best wishes, Tony!

Your story made me :lol: but I imagine (hope) it was a lesson learned. We were all 21 at one time and made similar, not so pleasant, discoveries, I know I did—several in fact :!:

gasmiser1 said:

As a smart alec 21 year old crossing the TJ border back into the US, I tried to be cute with the guards. US guard asked what country I was from. I replied: "No hablo Ingles" (I don't speak English).

That triggered a 30 minute detention and 10 minute lecture from the US guards on proper etiquette to cross the border. They weren't amused and I was terrified

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No trip to Mexico is complete without a run-in with the authorities of some sort. Which also adds to the adventure. I'm fairly certain Tony used the SENTRI lane on purpose.

Watched the video - didn't see which way Tony should have turned to enter the "regular" entrance. I'm fairly certain the $5000 fine is a threat used to persuade people from trying to sneak through the SENTRI lane instead of waiting with everyone else, but isn't actually charged. Worst case they make you turn around and go through the line again.

Looking forward to seeing you on Saturday, Tony. Hope your daughter doesn't get bored.
Good luck with all the charging stops.

If someone in that car had an Android phone, we could track them using Latitude.

gbarry42 said:

If someone in that car had an Android phone, we could track them using Latitude.

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TRACK ME HERE

I started today about an hour behind schedule, so like every airline job I ever worked, I'm peddling as fast as I can to mitigate the overall length of the day.

I'm in Malibu now, charging at the Civic Center Clipper Creek, per the flight plan / dispatch release. The Blink DC charger in downtown LA blink'd me, but I can't blame it on Ecotality. The gates were locked up as they stated from 3-5pm-ish. I got there at 3:30pm. Sirens were blaring, helicopters overhead, horrendous traffic.... I'm grateful to not have had to live there ever.

Special thanks to everybody from Orange County who greeted me at Chargepoint EVSE's in Laguna Beach (Phil, Gary and Gary enusred a spot would be there at 11am) and then Phil followed me over to Newport Beach's Fashion Island mall where Butch was keeping another Chargepoint reserved for me! Total charging time at both was about an hour, and we spent 30-45 minutes at the Tesla store ogling a black Model S. drove by a Fisker Karma in Newport Beach.

Phile also followed along to Cypress for a 97% fast DC charge at the Mitsubishi headquarters. We met with the building complex engineer who gave us some background on the charger (one of the first in the USA) and the solar PV panels. Great combo. Mitch also met us in Cypress. I think I had three LEAFs behind me as I left Cypress going north.

Like I said, "no joy" at Blink in downtown LA, but they do have lots of them. They are on the east side of the small lot.

Next stop is Camarillo, where I'll charge up for the final assault to Solvang. Steak dinner is waiting me in Camarillo, so time to unplug and get going.

Some of us Orange County LEAFers enjoyed escorting Tony and his daughter today from Laguna Beach through Newport to the Cypress Mitsubishi quick charger and saw them on their way towards Los Angeles.

Garygid, hill and I met them at Laguna Beach around 11:15 am.

We hung around at the Laguna Beach EVSEs and chatted for half an hour.

gbarry42 said:

If someone in that car had an Android phone, we could track them using Latitude.

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If he's got an Android phone or Blackberry w/car charger, he could also earn a bit of extra dough in the form of points redeemable for cash by war driving via http://www.navizon.com/download.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. I used to do this on my iPhones until the iOS app stopped working w/iOS 5 (long story). Hope I'm not out of line to mention my account signup referral link at http://my.navizon.com/Webapps/UserAdmin/register.aspx?referral_code=5859595F5856" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

I would definitely NOT use it unless he's got a car charger for his phone. It is a phone power hog. On iOS, it leaves the screen on along w/the GPS and Wi-Fi while sending and receiving data much of the time. It needs to do all of that except maybe the screen.

TonyWilliams said:

cbiwww said:

Tony, when will the website be up?

Buena Suerte!

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It's completely out of my control. My graduating from college son is celebrating instead of getting this going!!! I haven't heard from him in a day or two.

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If anyone would like to follow along with Tony and co-pilot on the map, see http://goo.gl/maps/nhZG
<<edit: Tony's new and improved tracking page is up. Look there instead: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0q90yWZQvVj1l0CnSSYcuYhW0q00IXy12 >>

Good coverage of the odyssey in WIRED: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2012/06/leaf-baja-to-bc/

I'll post more pics later when I get a chance. I'm getting a "board attachment quota has been reached" error. I'll post more pics using a separate image hosting site later on.

To finish our story from today:

After half an hour of charging in Laguna Beach, we said goodbye to hill and Gary and I convoyed with Tony the 10 miles or so to Newport Center, where fellow LEAFer Butch was holding one of the two Charge Point EVSEs for Tony. We got Tony's LEAF charging and headed for the Tesla store, where we had a nice discussion with one of the Tesla reps and we were able to sit in the black Beta Model S that is on display there. We were all suitably impressed, though we noticed that the interior space didn't really seem much larger than the LEAF's interior, especially in the head room department. The Model S has a very comfortable cockpit, though. I did find it difficult to see the front corners of the car and I asked whether front and rear parking sensors were optional. The rep said that only a rearview camera was standard on the car, with a high definition camera optional. I would want front and rear parking sensors on such a beautiful car, especially since IMHO outward visibility isn't a strong suit for the Model S.

After about 45 minutes of charging and kibitzing, we said goodbye to Butch and I convoyed with Tony up PCH through Newport Beach and up Rt 55 to Rt 405 and to the quick charger at Mitsubishi in Cypress. There we met up with 1051 (Mitch) and LeafyD (Dori). Tony charged to almost 100% with the quick charger, taking about an hour total. He had to restart the quick charger after it stopped by itself at around 80%. We met Ken, the facilities engineering manager at Mitsubishi, who is a terrific guy and very interested in Tony's project. He was really welcoming and we shared lore and stories while Tony's LEAF charged.

After Tony was charged up and ready to go, around 2:50 pm, we convoyed west on Katella to Rt 605, where Dory and I convoyed north with Tony for a while, as he headed toward the new quick charger in Downtown Los Angeles.

I peeled off at South Street in Cerritos and waved goodbye to Tony as he headed north.

Overall, an interesting morning of EV fun. I think that we were able to help Tony by saving an EVSE for him and by guiding him through some of the directions through OC so that he didn't need to waste energy looking for EVSEs.

A big thank you to Butch, Gary, hill, Mitch and Dory for joining the parade! And of course, best wishes to Tony and his daughter for a safe and successful trip northward. It was obvious that they were already having a great time.

walterbays said:

If anyone would like to follow along with Tony and co-pilot on the map, see http://goo.gl/maps/nhZG

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I think this is better...

TonyWilliams said:

TRACK ME HERE

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That's very cool that he's taking the PCH and has passed beautiful Malibu. There's a nice view if you go up the hills at Pepperdine.

I'll have to study the rest of his planned route more carefully.

More pictures from today: Laguna Beach chatting and charging, leaving Laguna Beach en route to Newport Beach, Fashion Island and the Tesla store.













Pacific Coast Highway north of Laguna Beach (Well, actually west...)

Newport Fashion Island ChargePoint EVSEs and the Tesla store: We meet up with Butch, who charged his LEAF while waiting there and saved a spot for Tony.

Arriving at Mitsubishi Cypress and the Quick Charger: Tony's ten year-old daughter demonstrates that even a child can operate CHAdeMO.

Ken, the Campus Engineering Director told us that he was pleasantly surprised to discover that the power from the solar canopy at Mitsubishi sufficiently offsets daytime charging demands so that the site is not hit with high demand charges.












Hanging out with LeafyD, Tony, 1051 and Ken of Mitsubishi

How did you get a black and white two-toned LEAF? Or, did you do something to a basic white model?

Phoenix said:

How did you get a black and white two-toned LEAF? Or, did you do something to a basic white model?

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He got his new black Leaf wrapped.

Phoenix said:

How did you get a black and white two-toned LEAF? Or, did you do something to a basic white model?

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Phoenix, he had a black Leaf partially wrapped.

http://bit.ly/tonynewleaf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://bit.ly/tonywrap" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;