BC2BC-2014 All Electric Vehicle Rally, 1500 miles from Mexico to Canada

[brianman]

And we'll find that the most recently built vehicles using the most recent technology will have a big advantage over older vehicles.

I think you're missing my point. That's not what I'm saying.

I'm saying that newer vehicles will always beat older vehicles -- even with identical technology. Basically it's agism for cars.

Newer technology is a different ball of wax, and I agree that's probably not a problem worth solving.

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That seems reasonable to me. I agree with the POV that a Roadster and other >100 mile EV has an advantage over the <100 mile EV's, and that it is an important one to reflect in the classifications.

So let's say two friends buy a 2015 Leaf without DC charging, and that the 2015 Leaf has a rated range of 110 miles. One friend experiences degradation down to 70 miles. The other friend experiences degradation only to 105 miles. Shouldn't they race in the same class or not? Isn't 50% rated range is a pretty significant advantage?

 

[TonyWilliams]

So let's say two friends buy a 2015 Leaf without DC charging, and that the 2015 Leaf has a rated range of 110 miles. One friend experiences degradation down to 70 miles. The other friend experiences degradation only to 105 miles. Shouldn't they race in the same class or not? Isn't 50% rated range is a pretty significant advantage?

Like any competitive automotive event, if you show up with disminished capabilities (machine or man), you probably operate at a disadvantage.

No attempt will be made to assess the the capabilities; just the classification.

In the Unlimited Class, let's say one friend has a stock S-85, and another has a trailer with 85kWh of extra batteries? They are both in the same class.

 

[brianman]

In the Unlimited Class, let's say one friend has a stock S-85, and another has a trailer with 85kWh of extra batteries? They are both in the same class.

To me, "Unlimited" means you're kind of wide open anyway.

Would a 100-mile-rated-at-sale leaf towing 10MW of battery qualify for the 100 mile class?

 

[TonyWilliams]

To me, "Unlimited" means you're kind of wide open anyway.

Would a 100-mile-rated-at-sale leaf towing 10MW of battery qualify for the 100 mile class?

No, we will have logical limits in the 100 Mile Class. I suspect that battery size, type, etc must be Original Equipment Manufacturer supplied for the year, make and model car entered. Charging speed cannot exceed the max rated kW offered from the OEM for make and model, in both AC and DC.

Modifications to wheels, tires, aerodynamics, weight, are all acceptable.

So, a 2011 Nissan LEAF can be modified to a 6.6kW AC charging system because the OEM offers that capability. A Tesla Model S with a single 10kW charger can have a second one added because the OEM did.

A 90kW DC charge on a Model S can be upgraded to 135kW, should the OEM offer that before the event.

 

[brianman]

Given your #24 post I'm now confused by you #22 example. It seems like the trailer automatically is a "same class" deal-breaker. Or were you just making a point that "Unlimited" is special and you can "tow" a jet airliner if you like?

Sorry if I'm taking the thread on a tangent. I'm genuinely curious about how this will evolve.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Given your #24 post I'm now confused by you #22 example. It seems like the trailer automatically is a "same class" deal-breaker. Or were you just making a point that "Unlimited" is special and you can "tow" a jet airliner if you like?

Sorry if I'm taking the thread on a tangent. I'm genuinely curious about how this will evolve.

In the Unlimited Class, you can pretty much do anything you want, provided it's a battery electric car that uses no other source of power.

I would think the range would be greatly reduced towing a jet airliner, or towing pretty much anything except additional storage batteries.

 

[TonyWilliams]

World's Largest Electric Vehicle Rally

We need to find a car from the Beardsley Electric Company of Los Angeles.

*******************************

We are planning a big kick-off to our annual all-electric vehicle rally this summer, BC2BC-2014, 1500 miles from Mexico to Canada. We would like to bring as many electric powered vehicles as we can to Long Beach, California on the morning of August 10, 2014 for the "World's Largest Electric Vehicle Gathering". Details of exact location in the coming months.

The vehicles need to be assembled by 9am and remain assembled until 12:30pm. All the vehicles on the lot MUST BE ENTIRELY ELECTRIC POWERED. No hybrids, no fossil fuel cars, no "range extenders", no hydrogen. If you have tow vehicles that are not 100% battery electric, those must be parked off site.

We have almost one thousand parking spots to fill, and we hope to do that with antiques, trucks, buses, cars, motorcycles, and anything else that is a transportation vehicle powered by autonomous battery electric power. We will have additional information in the coming months.

We are particularly interested in finding the first electric car that was built in California 100 years ago, the Beardsley Electric, that we can display. The Beardsley Electric Company of Los Angeles built their electric car from 1914 until 1917. Here is some further information:

Beardsley Electric | Cartype

Tony Williams
Rally Organizer
1500 Miles from Mexico to Canada
August 10, 2014 until August 17, 2014
BC2BC AllElectricVehicleRally.org Event Official Website
Quick Charge Power (QCpower) on Twitter #BC2BC
https://www.Facebook.com/groups/AllElectricVehicleRally

 

[Cottonwood]

We need to find a car from the Beardsley Electric Company of Los Angeles.

Jay Leno has a 1909 Baker Electric in his Garage. Someone should contact him; he may be interested in bringing it to the event.

Baker Electric | Photos & Exclusive Images | Jay Leno's Garage | NBC

 

[TonyWilliams]

Jay Leno has a 1909 Baker Electric in his Garage. Someone should contact him; he may be interested in bringing it to the event.

Baker Electric | Photos & Exclusive Images | Jay Leno's Garage | NBC

Jay Leno has been approached, but no firm offer yet on what he might display.

By the way, I did find a 1914 Beardsley Electric (the first EV built in California) and the museum agreed to let us show it. We just need to raise the funds to ship a fragile car half way across the USA and back! We will also have Tom Hank's personal eBox electric (built by AC Propulsion) and the first 18650 cell car that inspired Tesla in 2003 to build the Roadster that way. We will have several examples of "Electric Shoppers" from a Long Beach, California company called The Electric Car Company of California (1951-1962). The Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation will display some cars, including the 1948 Autoette amongst several other EV brands that you never heard of.

We have a tentative agreement with the world's first Baja Off-Road electric racer. Other tentative agreements are with the Pike's Peak Hill Climb winning EV, and perhaps the first EV motorcycle to beat EVERY motorcycle (gasoline, too) last summer on that race.

Definitely, we will have virtually every electric motorcycle manufacturer, most of which are on the USA west coast, but also Energica from Italy. FormulaE is a distant chance, since the first round of their new series is in China in September, but our event will be right in the heart of the Long Beach Gran Prix. UPS, FedEx, Frito-Lay, the Port of Los Angeles, and anybody else with an EV work related vehicle has been invited to the event.

BYD has tentatively agreed to bring a EV bus and some EV cars. Did I mention that there would be Nissan LEAFs? There's no surprise that they'll be a whole bunch of Tesla cars. We really need 300-400 of each present.

Obviously, we want Nissan LEAFs to be present by the hundreds, which I think is very doable, but a few official Nissan ones would be great. Particularly something unique like the 48kW LEAF that was entered in some study / event that I read about. Or, even a show car that is electric. Maybe something from Nissan's design studio in San Diego or the new facility in the San Francisco area? How about their first Nissan Electric (1948?) would certainly be iconic. How about an NV-2000 EV taxi built for London? Bladerunner?

For Tesla, I'm not sure what they might do.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Due to popular demand, Impromptu Entrants can join in at Stage Overnight locations in the rally. For 2014, they are Long Beach, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle.

1) Your car must be all-electric.
2) Your vehicle leaves last, after all the registered rally participants.
3) You cannot earn points, prizes, awards, or benefit from sponsor supplied bits and services.
4) You cannot interfere, or aid, any other participant. No blocking or holding charging stations for others.
5) The total number of Impromptu Entrants may be limited, without notice.
6) Impromptu Entrants will be assigned a three digit rally number in sequential order.
7) You must preregister with your starting and ending points

Tony

 

[Tharo]

Obviously, we want Nissan LEAFs to be present by the hundreds, which I think is very doable, but a few official Nissan ones would be great. Particularly something unique like the 48kW LEAF that was entered in some study / event that I read about. Or, even a show car that is electric.

The Leaf with 48kw is in Spain and it's a personal proyect from a Nissan's engineer, but don't have better batteries, had interior full of batteries.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The Leaf with 48kw is in Spain and it's a personal proyect from a Nissan's engineer, but don't have better batteries, had interior full of batteries.

I think I would pay to have that shipped over here, provided it had CHAdeMO charging for the entire 48kWh.

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BC2BC-2014

Stage Overnight Points:

a) Long Beach, California, August 9-10, 2014, meet at 8am, leave at 12 noon

b) San Francisco, California, August 11-12, 2014, meet at 8am, leave at 9am

c) Portland, Oregon, August 14-15, 2014, meet at 1pm, leave at 2pm

d) Seattle, Washington, August 15-16, 2014, meet at 8am, leave at 9am

e) Vancouver, British Colombia, August 16-17, 2014, end

 

[adiggs]

I like the impromptu entrants idea Tony - that's probably the more realistic and likely option for me to participate this year.

You'll be happy to know that I still have the nose sticker on the Roadster from BC2BC 2013 Gives the all black car a splash of color.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I like the impromptu entrants idea Tony - that's probably the more realistic and likely option for me to participate this year.

You'll be happy to know that I still have the nose sticker on the Roadster from BC2BC 2013 Gives the all black car a splash of color.

Awesome. I still have mine on the hood, too!

 

[TonyWilliams]

To register, just send a note from the contact page at:

BC2BC AllElectricVehicleRally.org Event

One small change; we will be starting on Saturday night, Aug 9.

There will be an entry fee this year to offset graphics, vehicle tracking, support, and the launch party in Long Beach.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Our event is scheduled to launch on Saturday, August 9, during a Tesla enthusiast event in Long Beach, California. There will be an entry fee to cover all costs.

Of course, I had no idea that there was a cat fight going on behind the scenes about this Tesla enthusiast event, but the result is this:

Regarding transition from TESLIVE

 

[markb1]

Our event is scheduled to launch on Saturday, August 9, during a Tesla enthusiast event in Long Beach, California. There will be an entry fee to cover all costs.

Of course, I had no idea that there was a cat fight going on behind the scenes about this Tesla enthusiast event, but the result is this:

Regarding transition from TESLIVE

I'm confused. Is this "Tesla enthusiast event" the same or differnent than the world's largest electric car gathering that you were planning?

 

[TonyWilliams]

I'm confused. Is this "Tesla enthusiast event" the same or differnent than the world's largest electric car gathering that you were planning?

Don't worry, I'm a bit confused, too. The "World's Largest Electric Vehicle Gathering" is cancelled.

The "Tesla enthusiast event" is a completely separate event that I am banned from mentioning the name of on this forum. That event will be huge, however, in the Long Beach Arena.

 

[TonyWilliams]

All,

I'm sad to report that all events planned for August 9-17, 2014, the 3rd annual BC2BC-2014 All Electric Vehicle Rally and the World's Largest Electric Vehicle Gathering are cancelled.

Coming off our fantastic event last year, we had planned a far bigger and better program this year. We suffered some set backs when we lost our original venue at the Long Beach Arena, but we regrouped to find a location in Irvine, California with the same dates.

I have to say that sponsorship interest was high, but ultimately we were never able to sign a single major sponsor by our cutoff date. Not one. The costs are already significant just to get the event to this point, and without major sponsors like we had last year, that left only me to fund the events.

One of the several outcomes for our events was promotion of the California West Coast Electric Highway. Sadly, the folks that I have been working with in the governor's office have largely moved on and I just don't see anything happening from California that would match what Oregon and Washington states have already done, and are expanding on. It seems we are beating a dead horse there.

The singular biggest disappointment is the lack of support from actual electric vehicle manufacturers, particularly Nissan and Tesla. These two companies are leaders in the market, but in the third year of this event, we never got even the most basic support. Not a Tweet, not a Facebook post, not anything whatsoever, ever. In Tesla's case, last year we actually had one Tesla Model S owner who had to leave his car behind and rent a gasoline car to finish the event because a Tesla sales office wouldn't let him charge there. I truly think that this type of support is also a dead horse as far as this event is concerned.

Going forward to potential future events, honestly, unless a sponsor were upfront with the money to make it happen, I wouldn't even start the planning. It really is a full time job with real costs. All of the many electric vehicle events that I have planned in the past have been entirely non-profit with no fee whatsoever to the participants. We have already discussed the possibility of one such event for next year with a potential sponsor.

I'd like to thank Zan Dubin Scott for her help in marketing. Also, many thanks to Angus Clark for securing our new launch location, and a long list of others who were instrumental in planning our Stage Overnight city activities and surprises along the way. There are just too many people for me to name, as I'm sure I'd miss somebody. One standout person from last year was Tonia Buell from the State of Washington Department of Transportation who I can't thank enough to make last year's event truly legendary.

I'd also like to thanks all our sponsors who already stepped up for this year and the many, many well wishes and encouragement that I have personally received along the way. It is truly humbling and all I can say is that whatever successes I've had promoting electric vehicles, it was only possible because I stand on the shoulders of giants in our electric vehicle industry.

I thank you all,

Tony