San Diego Tesla Club Second Meeting 5/21/13 at 7:15 PM (meet and greet at 6:30 PM)

[Hometheatremaven]

We now have 43 members on our email list. I went to the San Diego Service Center today to have my frunk adjusted and Bill, the manager of the Service Center, said there were over 400 Teslas in San Diego, so we only have 10% participation. So, lots of growth if we want it.

Since there are many to-be-owners that are going to pick up their cars in Fremont, and many more who haven’t experienced the superchargers or long trips that involve planning ahead, I thought it would be interesting to hear from a pro. Randy Schimka, from SDG&E’s Clean Transportation Division, just picked up his new Tesla S at the factory less than a week ago. He is going to talk to us about his experiences taking the factory tour and driving back home. Randy is also a Nissan Leaf owner and can go over with us how to plan a long trip in a totally electric vehicle.

Member Phil Trubey has offered to host the meeting. Phil owns Willow Creek Stables in Olivenhain/Encinitas. The address is 3049 Camino Del Rancho, which is a road off Lone Jack road in Olivenhain/Encinitas. The road sign has a very small Camino, so the road sign looks like it says Del Rancho. It’ll be on the right off Lone Jack. The stables are at the end of Camino Del Rancho. Don’t take the earlier service road.


Attached is an aerial picture of the top part showing where people can park if they want to stay on paved road. The numbers in the attached photo are how many cars can fit in that spot. The idea is for people to circle around the road/barns and park more or less single file. There is also a dirt parking area for people who want to make quick getaway. It’s pretty compacted dirt and there isn’t much of it, so the cars won’t get that dusty there.

Phil said we can hold the meeting in the rec room. Prior to the meeting, we can have a meet and greet (see below).

Date: Tuesday May 21, 2013
Time: 6:30 – 7:15 PM Meet and Greet; 7:15 PM Presentation by Randy Schimka
Location: 3049 Camino Del Rancho, Encinitas/Olivenhain




If you are not on our club email list but wish to attend, please send me a private message with your name and email address. We may not have room for everyone, so let me know ASAP.




David Guggenheim
Organizer


P.S. At a future meeting, perhaps we can have Wes from Elite Finish Detailing and Evan Rowe from Auto Armour LLC talk to us about how to maintain our cars.

 

[gus.montoya]

Hello

I would like to join, but I have one issue. I don't own a Tesla. Could I hitch a ride with anyone? I love the car and the company. Hopefully I future owner in the near future.

I'd love to meet and greet all the tesla owners and check out the cars.

Thank you
Gus

 

[Hermann]

David, My wife and I are owners of a Model S which we received March 5, 2013. We live in Paradise Valley AZ, but summer in San Clemente CA. We love the car, love driving it and would enjoy meeting other Model S owners. We are interested in coming to the meeting on Tuesday if that's ok. Thanks, Susan and Ingolf Hermann

 

[Hometheatremaven]

There is a big crowd coming, so if you could bring a couple of folding chairs (anything small you can sit on), that would be great. Also, if you have name tags, bring them. Most of us have never met, since it's only our second meeting, so you won't be strangers anymore than anyone else.

CU soon.

David

 

[TonyWilliams]

Thanks for a great meeting. If you like horses, this location was really special (my mother raised quarter horses, so I felt right at home). It certainly would be a bit of a challenge to find without modern day GPS, particularly if you're not familiar with the area.

I'm not going to guess how many showed up, but the meeting room was packed full. Randy from SDG&E (and Model S-P85 and Nissan LEAF owner) gave us a slide show presentation about getting his car from the factory and driving it home to San Diego, and then a talk on electric rates. I'm one of the 500-ish on the special EV rates (7.7 cents between midnight and 5 am) with a sub-meter, but when that program expires, I want to be ready for what's next.

Then we had a short talk from (sorry, forgot name) from the Tesla Service Center in Mira Mesa. He talked about the upcoming 4.5 firmware, and how there are "thousands" of changes, but that most are transparent to the driver.

There were finger food snacks, and we wrapped up around 9pm. It was great to see so many folks that I know who had/still have a Nissan LEAF. I'd say it was an enthusiastic crowd, but it was all Model S cars. Not a single Roadster that I saw, although some folks present either do own or owned the Roadster.

My Tesla powered Toyota Rav4 EV could not be driven there, since I got the "Check EV System" screen of death, so it's been at the dealer all week (again). After already having the Tesla motor replaced in my car, burning up the charge port and having the heater fail (that is supplied by Toyota), and now a complete shutdown, my Tesla smile was waning. Thanks to all for sharing your enthusiasm.

Of course, all EVs are welcome to our breakfast on June 8 in Encinitas. Hope to see you there. I will be leaving shortly after that to begin the multi-week EV journey from San Diego to Montana to Washington and then home via the BC2BC rally ending here in San Diego on July 7. Then off to Teslive!!

 

[Hometheatremaven]

Here are a few pictures from our meeting last night. As you can see, we had a custom painted from the factory lavender S, along with the new multi-coat red and the Signature red. We had about 35 members and 20 some cars at the meeting. Thanks to Phil Trubey for hosting our second meeting.