West Coast LEAF Relay/Caravan Late Summer '11

[intrepion]

Albany, OR - Withnell Nissan

This place doesn't exist any more. I saw it on Google Maps and tried to find it, but there's a Farmer's Market building in its place. You might want to try the Corvallis, OR - Jack Scoville Nissan dealership instead.

 

[MaryC]

The segment of Eugene to Redding. There are several RV parks along the way. I don't have my park book w/me as it is in my RV in the storage lot, but off the top of my head they are:

Sunnyvalley, (just north of Grants Pass)
South Grants Pass
KOA (Gold hill/Medford)
Yreka
KOA (Mount Shasta)
Rail Road crossing ( near Dunsmuir)
Redding

I will get more detail when I get the book out of the RV.

 

[Glenn]

I wonder if the group could consider "posterizing" at least one LEAF? Print up a set of sturdy, removable banners for the sides/front/rear/ of the car and hand it/them off to the next Branch. Antenna streamers for all vehicles would also be a unifying element. Cost shouldn't be much; there's probably even someone on MNL with connections. At the very least, print up a bumper sticker.

There must be enough wrong-sized T-shirts left from that long ago misguided Nissan promotion , if someone wanted to overprint them for the occasion.

Enlist enlightened merchants and/or Nissan dealers to kick in some participant fuel (coffee, juice, pastries...) to accompany the electric fuel for the LEAFs at the Branch points.

If this turns out to encompass one or two overnights, the dinner(s) and breakfast(s) could be made into "big deals" in (likely) Medford and King City.

Notifying local EV-friendly media, where possible, seems like a given.

I'm sure ideas must be formulating everywhere,

Glenn

 

[gascant]

gascant, I know you proposed August, but I'm wondering if September (after Labor Day) might be better. It won't be as hot, so less A/C will be needed (or at least wanted). Perhaps more important, most people will be home from their summer vacations.
Ray

Everything is in the "proposed" stage right now, Ray. Good point about A/C as I'm sure the inland valley drivers will need it, regardless of the month. Let's see what people say here in the coming week before anything is decided.

I would also suggest to everyone that, as volunteers in organizing this event, we keep the first one simple. That is, of course, unless Mark Perry from Nissan wants to swoop in and plan the entire thing for us :lol:

 

[palmermd]

Medford, OR - Lithia Nissan
- 150 Mile "Hole"
Redding, CA - Crown Motors Nissan -- Could be starting point if we can't fill the Oregon holes..

Surely there should be a RV campground in Yreka and Dunsmuir that would be willing to participate for the cause.

 

[UhClem]

Start - Blaine, WA
Bellingham, WA - King Nissan
Burlington, WA - Karmart Nissan
Edmunds, WA - Campbell Nissan

I could do the first leg, I'm located in Bellingham. That is, if I get my car in time; I currently have "Month of August"

 

[TonyWilliams]

I volunteered in the other thread, but I'd be happy to drive any leg in San Diego county, to the Mexican border.

 

[garygid]

In the process of setting up the "scenic" route, we might also set up a "direct" route (near minimum number of stops) from border to border ... a LEAF electric railroad, and many of us could try out both the direct and scenic links for 1, 2, or 3 charges in each direction.

A morning drive after an overnight charge, a daytime charge at (or near) some point of interest, an afternoon/evening drive, and overnight charging again at (or near) a reasonable Motel with a pool?

Knowing your area for POI-Stops and Overnight-Stops, and the local transportation and charging opportunities ... local folks should/could suggest good charging-friendly spots, and the good spots that are a LEAF-flutter (drive) away. Describe the driving conditions each way.

 

[Electric4Me]

Hmmm... This subject seems to have taken a direction that is different that I imagined when it first came up. I had envisioned something like a San Jose to Santa Monica relay where there is no passenger originally. Driver 1 would leave SJ and drive ~80 miles, then plug in his/her car and climb into driver 2's car. They'd then drive and meet #3, plugging in there and climbing in. Then 5 people arrive 400 miles away with little to no daytime charging in series with the drive. Stay the night in Santa Monica (or wherever) and repeat the process to come home.

This could be extended multiple days as interest allows. Of course, it requires folks with Leafs to already live near the meet points and it may be premature for that.

Maybe this is actually what gascant has suggested and I'm too tired from staying up late reading MNL???

Bill

 

[xtremeflyer]

Since there are so many ideas.. another option would to be to just give each branch club a section and they can run their relay however they want.. something like:

Blaine, WA to Auburn, WA - Seattle Leafers
Auburn, WA to Vancouver, WA - Olympia Leafers
Vancouver, WA to Eugene, OR - Portland Leafers
Eugene, OR to Redding, CA - Southern Oregon Leafers
Redding, CA to Davis, CA - Sacramento Leafers
Davis, CA to Gilroy, CA - BayLeafers
Gilroy, CA to Santa Barbara, CA - Central Coast Leafers
Santa Barbara to Santa Monica, CA - Valley Leafers
Santa Monica, CA to Cerritos, CA - Los Angeles Leafers
Cerritos, CA to Oceanside, CA - SoCal Leafers
Oceanside, CA to San Ysidro, CA - San Diego Leafers

Anyway, just throwing out more ideas.

 

[jcesare]

May I suggest a stop at the San Diego Automotive Museum in Balboa Park. It will make a great photo op and generate some media coverage.
http://www.sdautomuseum.org/

Ecotality expects to have a public charging station in Balboa Park by the end of the summer.

 

[garygid]

The Locomotive Museum in Sacramento. Nearby charging?

 

[rickbecker]

Great idea! Count me in for the San Diego area.

Rick

 

[Reddy]

Great idea! This is big, really big. I wish I could participate, but alas, I'm at least three charges from I-5. Good luck.

I suggest that the "baton" to be passed be an American Flag. That would accent the use of American energy for the entire event. Also, if there are enough people interested, you might even have sections where there is more than just one car. Hmmm, I can see one red, one white, and one blue in an all-American caravan.

Maybe this could speed up the installation of a couple of charging stations on the I-5 corridor that I keep reading were supposed to be completed by now. Has anybody contacted: http://westcoastgreenhighway.com/electrichighways.htm

Better be ready for the publicity (both good and bad).

-Reddy, and waiting for my new Nissan Leaf sometime before the snow flies.

 

[Boomer23]

My wife, teacher that she is, suggested that one or more of the passengers be college students, either in environmental sciences or journalism, or engineering. Given the late summer timeline and the one way nature of the trip, maybe we could ferry one or more college students to their college for the start of the fall quarter or semester.

 

[FairwoodRed]

This is a WONDERFUL idea. I hope to help out, subject to scheduling. I think that making the stop points at Nissan dealers is the right way to go. Dealers close together would enable more people to carry the baton. I would like to see Nissan of Auburn removed from the list though. Younker Nissan in Renton could be substituted.

For a passenger-baton, I nominate GUDY! He was the luckiest of us all and still carries some PR weight.

For a physical-baton, I suggest a 1 gallon gas can to be delivered to a Chevy Volt or Hummer H2 :lol:

 

[palmermd]

For a physical-baton, I suggest a 1 gallon gas can to be delivered to a Chevy Volt or Hummer H2

how many miles would that gallon actually go when traveling a rambling route (not direct) from canada to mexico?

I can hear the headlines now.
"Nissan Leaf caravan takes a 2500 mile trip with one gallon of gas"

 

[LindaK]

This sounds like lots of fun, but until we have solid dates, no one can commit...well I can't anyway.

 

[gascant]

This sounds like lots of fun, but until we have solid dates, no one can commit...well I can't anyway.

Right! This is just the information gathering phase, open to all potential participants to put forth potential routes, formats, pitfalls, etc. So far we have several good suggestions and they will all be considered.

Originally I was thinking of a one-day, 10-12 segment run, which I could have managed as a lone organizer. Ultimately, this may be much bigger. If so, I might look to form an organizing committee and share the work.

As a result of this, today I packed up my L1 EVSE and shipped it off for modification--might have to use it (or lend it) as part of this event.

 

[Boomer23]

For a physical-baton, I suggest a 1 gallon gas can to be delivered to a Chevy Volt or Hummer H2 :lol:

No gasoline is allowed in my LEAF! I'll caravan, but that's where I draw the line. :lol: