National Drive Electric Events Sept 14 - 22, 2019

[Kenz]

National Drive Electric Week™ is September 14-22, 2019

Anyone planning on attending any local events ?

Check out the map of planned events around the country.

Might be a good place to meet other like minded people and enjoy talking EV's.

National Drive Electric Week 2019 - Event Map

 

[BluestarE3]

Woohoo, this year I finally can attend in my own EV!

 

[SpiceWare]

I've created handouts that I keep in my 3 to give away when people ask about it. There are 2 version each for the S, 3, and X. Feel free to download and revise them for your own use.

They were created using Apple Pages, but can be downloaded in a variety of formats. Download links in this twitter chain.
Darrell Spice Jr. on Twitter

Following images are for reference, use link above to download originals. Letter size handout:


Legal size handout, includes example road trip I took in my 3:

 

[SMAlset]

We displayed our MS the first year we had it. Stayed all day at the event showing the car and answering people’s questions. Have it on the calendar for this year. Will probably attend and enjoy the attendee experience for a few hours this year and get a chance to talk to other Tesla owners and see what they’ve done with their cars and support the event that way.

I contacted our event organizers a few weeks ago and asked if they had fliers for the event, which they did, and was able to download and print out a few. Put them up on a few local Starbucks and Mod Pizza community bulletin boards so hope to have increased awareness of the event. I think the Event is a great way for anyone thinking they’d like to know more about EVs to sit in cars, talk to owners, ask questions and see what’s out there to buy. Of course I’m partial to Tesla but realize that won’t be everyones choice but the exposure to it in person is good for people to have.

Super nicely done handouts @SpiceWare! If we were displaying this year would have gladly printed out a lot for handouts with our car. We bought our Teslas when they had a larger compliment of adapters like the NEMA 14-50 and the J-1772 that came in the Mobile Kit. I know they made the NEMA 14-50 optional but didn’t know the J-1772 was dropped. I didn’t see it shown anywhere on your form (haven’t looked at the download versions) but might think about adding it somewhere as it will good for people to know they can use other non-Tesla L2 chargers.

 

[Kenz]

Love the hand outs.
Drive electric events are a good place to talk electric vehicles, ebikes, escooters, electric buses. electric school buses, solar energy and you might even get a Tesla referral or two. Local bike shops should attend and bring an ebike. Local solar companies should bring a display.

 

[SpiceWare]

Thanks @SMAlset! Looks like the J1772 Adapter still comes with all Teslas.

When I initially made it for last year's events I used letter size paper, so was space constrained. I wanted to hit the key questions of "How much?", "How far?", "How do I charge?", "How do I take trips?" and didn't want to overwhelm them with things like the Wall Connector or 3rd party charging networks.

If I pop the frunk and show the adapters I make sure to point out the J1772 and mention the third party charging, though I also mention I've only used it once to try it and found them to be less reliable and more expensive than Tesla's chargers.

...Afterwards we had some time to kill, so we decided to try out a non-Tesla charging option. I used the Plugshare App and found a Chargepoint site at a nearby mall.

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We first tried the circled location, but none of the 4 charging stations worked. We then drove around the mall to the squared location. We expected to find 4 charging stations, there was only 1 but it was a newer 2-connector model than the first chargers we tried.

... The charge rate wasn't very impressing, only 22 miles per hour (same as the 30 amp dryer outlet at home). We left after about 45 minutes and had gained 15 miles of range.

 

[srs5694]

There was an event near me yesterday that I attended. A hard-learned tip from that event: Put your car in valet mode so that people won't make permanent changes to your personalized seating position! Alternatively, don't let them sit in the driver's seat.

 

[JulienW]

Went 3 years ago in my "unicorn" ELR and to lots of attention (me standing behind it). About to register but hard to be unique when there are already over 60 3's registered. I bet every color/wheel/interior/model combination will be represented.

 

[srs5694]

Went 3 years ago in my "unicorn" ELR and to lots of attention (me standing behind it). About to register but hard to be unique when there are already over 60 3's registered. I bet every color/wheel/interior/model combination will be represented.

Try removing the frunk's liner so that people can see what's really "under the hood" of your Model 3! Here's a video on how to do it....

 

[Kenz]

Northwest Indiana Needs some EV support.

National Drive Electric Week 2019 - Event Map

Click on link and sign up to attend

I hope a local bike shop comes with a few ebikes and escooters.

Day: Thursday, September 19, 2019
Time: 10:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location: 6100 Southport Rd.
Portage, IN 46368

 

[Kenz]

Vehicles Registered for Portage Indiana event as of 9/8/2019

Tesla Model 3 5
Chevrolet Bolt 1
Chevrolet Volt 1

3 Models 7 cars

Any one want to bring a Nissan Leaf, BMW I3 or some other electric model ?

No Tesla Model S or Model X signed up yet.

 

[SMAlset]

As to the J-1772 adapters, a number of people’s offices have some sort of L2 charging for employees (my husband’s happens to be ChargePoint), and if people know they can charge at work with their Tesla, that could be a big selling point for them to have that convenient access. That and local stores like Whole Foods, etc. that have installed them. A local PlugShare map of J-1772 chargers might be nice to have. Recent Media reports are still saying a main holdback for people is range anxiety. And in a lot of states, Tesla Superchargers aren’t as numerous or convenient to drive to as say parts of Calif. where I live. Letting people know these additional sources to charge are around in addition to Superchargers, I see as a making an EV choice as their next car more possible.

 

[SMAlset]

Went 3 years ago in my "unicorn" ELR and to lots of attention (me standing behind it). About to register but hard to be unique when there are already over 60 3's registered. I bet every color/wheel/interior/model combination will be represented.

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Nice interest turn out BTW! Here in Silicon Valley the Event was super popular a few years back but I think with so many EVs driving around people don't think they need to participate although there are a lot of people who still don't really know much about EVs and could benefit from more cars there on display with their owners.

When we were displaying our car, I made a point of pointing our our 3D Maxpider Kagu mats (which weren't as popular as they are now and still many may not have them--love the mats) and mentioned we had Xpel PPF installed, Rola trunk cargo container -- so people could ask questions about those items. Had a small handout sheet listing some product names if people wanted to follow up on it. Always nice to see something in person before you buy.

If you've customized your car in some way, it's nice to be able to call attention to that somehow (maybe with a paper sign listing things they can ask about). Another thing people can point out they might not think about doing is TeslaCam/Sentry Mode, sign could say "Ask me about Dashcam/Sentry Mode" and maybe have video of it catching someone keying a car etc on your phone that you can show. And if they have kids with them, maybe display an easter egg or game. While there are the basics people will be curious about, and depending on how much time they spend at a car, there are probably things you can share that will be different and help present a broader picture of what Tesla has to offer...like a bike rack, cargo capacity by having something large stored in the back, maybe an air mattress for camping and then talk about camping mode on the car and how the a/c can make it nice sleeping during the summer...I understand the new software coming out will have drive-in theater mode and could have used that when we took our car to a drive-in once and weren't sure how to turn off the lights but keep the a/c running. Get creative in showing something different about what the car can do! Heck if it was coordinated, the 60 cars could show off something different!

 

[Mr X]

Went 3 years ago in my "unicorn" ELR and to lots of attention (me standing behind it). About to register but hard to be unique when there are already over 60 3's registered. I bet every color/wheel/interior/model combination will be represented.

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Next year when I attend my Model 3 will be the most unique car there... getting a special color that when you see it, makes you say f******k

 

[focher]

Wonder if my Stealth Red wrap would stand out...

 

[scubastevo80]

I'm attending and displaying my car at the event in Chatham NJ this Saturday. It will be my first one, so I'm hoping to provide some honest feedback to those who are curious!

 

[Sandiegodoug]

Both my wife and I will be presenters in San Diego. (X,3) it’s a great event and always amazes me how little the general public knows about electric vehicles. I love educating them.

 

[JulienW]

For those that are first timers there is a little caveat. Many people assume they are dealer's cars and will treat them that way with less respect.

 

[Sandiegodoug]

I usually tell my drivers this is my personal car and I’m here to have them consider an electric car for their next vehicle and I don’t work for Tesla. They are very respectful of my car.

 

[daniel]

Back in Spokane I always took my Roadster to the Drive Electric events. Gave rides to lots of people. Here in Maui there doesn't seem to be an event (though there's one on Oahu and several on the Big Island). I am not an organizer. I've tried to organize several events (not related to EVs) and I am a total flop. So I'm not going to organize one. I'd go if there was one on Maui (as long as it's not Lahaina or along the Road to Hana, because of the roads getting there) but EVs are much more common than they were even just a couple of years ago. Nobody asks about my car any more. Everybody knows. Maybe people would like a ride, and I'd be happy to oblige, but if somebody else isn't organizing an event I'm not going to be the one to do it because if I did nobody would come.