I am sharing the extended letter that I just sent Tesla via my owner access as a car owner. Despite my lengthy wording, which exceeded the 4K character (not my character
) limit, this version gives the detail of where the concept came from. You are encouraged to contact congress people and your local military command if you care to get involved. Here goes:
Elon/Tesla
SUBJECT: EV Charging on Military Posts 30 May 2018
As you may be aware, Sandy and I own Xena (Model X).
A week ago, I drove onto Fort Lewis (Washington) to pick up a large special order of suet for our neighborhood birds from the commissary. As I entered the base the first traffic light provides a chance to pause and look around conjuring up memories of a time gone by. I removed a few cobwebs as I glanced over at the eighteen gas pump station to my left front that reminded me of some waits exceeding twenty to thirty minutes to tank up (top off), pay and get back on the road, in my old ICE days. Part of the problem was having to pay someone in a box, and hoses only long enough to reach a car with the filling port on the side of the pump. Lessons learned and slow advent of pay at the pump with a credit card and longer hoses; well things got better and faster, but still long lines. Following my enlisted time, from 1969 to 1972, I moved into the reserves from active duty. I seem to think I recall the gas being roughly $0.10 (California) cheaper on post because we did not pay state taxes. Later and more recently, again lessons learned, the military now brings the on-post fuel up to the same price as off-post gas stations and uses the extra/tax money to fund things for soldiers like TVs, pool tables, etc. (just as a guess) in what used to be called Day Rooms (common areas). Again, if I am correct in my foggy memory, several of us gathered in the day room on the 20th of July 1969 to watch the moon landing. So, our tax payers got their monies worth out of that particular TV. I was at Fort Dix at the time.
Okay, enough of the walk down memory lane, and back to my drive onto Fort Lewis. First, I was driving the only Tesla around☹ Then I recalled the gas days gone by. . . The approach to getting EVs on post takes planning and a vision ~ probably some arm twisting too. The military is driven by fossil fuel (tanks, planes and some boats), in case anyone reading this lacks knowledge of the military as whole. Currently there are no on-post Supercharger’s, and I doubt that on-post housing provides car chargers. The question is, from my perspective, “why not”? Gee, let me guess ~ EVs are not fossil fuel? FYI ~ once upon a time the military bent over backwards to be environmentally friendly.
In keeping with the Tesla Supercharger scenario, place a bank in the parking lot of the PX complex. At Lewis, there is plenty of room and a location that would keep our friends from ICEing us out of the stalls. The MPs probably would be eager to ticket anyone misusing the parking stalls
And, maybe there is a way of providing that charging (free) to Model 3s (only on bases during transition) as the infrastructure is expanded to the on-post housing area.
As I recall from the old days, living in on-post housing meant not just rent free, but utility free too. Regardless, if today’s soldiers are actually charged for utilities, then there should not be a problem. Why not work with the post commanders to begin installing EV car chargers at every home, starting with the soldier’s purchase of an EV, then as time and monies permit, include all on-post housing. Can and are the commanders willing to provide free charging for their soldiers that buy EVs ~ regardless of manufacture? I am not sure. . . In Tesla’s case I would encourage the NEMA 14-50 at each location (non-supercharger location) to support all makes and models (I think and hope). Maybe Tesla could drag Chevy, Ford and the others kicking and screaming along claiming to be moving towards EVs.
FYI ~ we installed a NEST thermostat, probably any good WiFi brand will work, but since installing we have reduced our monthly bill by twenty to forty dollars and that includes the charging of Xena nightly over the last year.
I am more than willing to assist wherever possible should you wish to try thinking through your game plan or even implementing a plan. I am not interested in money; helping the military transition their soldiers from fossil fuel to EV cars would be exciting to me. I designed, produced a prototype, and convinced the army to produce a world-wide field artillery manual driven war game in 1982/3 that trained down to the platoon level, leadership and thus saving thousands of dollars each time a battalion did not go out into the field to train ~ they did it on the game board. I received my one and only army commendation medal (ARCOM) ~ no money, no promotion, just a medal that would never buy me a cup of coffee as the saying went in those days. Hey, maybe you’ll give me a second Tesla coffee cup so we have a pair
I am just a dyed in the wool Tesla supporter and everything EV.
I also fully understand that this concept may not gain any traction, but hey nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Sincerely,
Bruce & Sandy
