AltCar Expo 9/30-10/1/11 - Santa Monica, CA

[hill]

I remembered in 'Terminator 1' ... quoting Arnold, when he appropriated the gas truck ... "GET OUT"



no, I just helped with a kind word, that SM city budget will appreciate their generous donation if they inadvertently missed the city ordinance signs posted in front of the EV stalls. One's wallet being tapped is a great motivator.

 

[thankyouOB]

Well, we could all go over and ask to charge at the Santa Monica dealership.
:lol:

 

[haykinson]

Stopped by the Expo, and had one of the Nissan guys show me their AV Quick Charger. Apparently the sucker costs $50K, and the cable + plug itself are close to $6k. Pretty darn expensive.

Looked at the Coda (the car's technology may be good, but the car doesn't feel worth the additional $10k+ premium on top of the LEAF).

The Fisker looks pretty awesome. <drool />

 

[TRONZ]

OK peoples. The Santa Monica Pier now has FOUR J1772 stations online! They have swapped out three of the old paddles for CC units and the CP unit on the far right is still 120v only but networked through the app. We arrived at 9:30 and didn't even try SMP. Driving down to the pier you can do a visual to see if they are in use before paying the $12. This was a great spot for us because we typically do the Venice boardwalk, lunch on Main St and then the rides on the pier. Surprisingly, I was the lone EV over there all day.

AltCar was awesome! It was much bigger than last year with alot more cars to see and drive. I drove the Mercedes F-Cell and it worked very well. We also did the "Treasure Hunt" and the gift bags came with T-Shirts, Nissan LEAF bracelets, etc. Sat in the Fisker and didn't want to get out! While leaving I walked past the Convention chargers to check them out. Found a couple hungry LEAFs with their mouths open but not plugged in. Plugged them into the unused J1772's and we were off to the rides. The Event should provide a charging "Concierge" at these stations to dispense proper courtesy to the EV's. All in all, a very fun day up on the Westside.

 

[richard]

..Found a couple hungry LEAFs with their mouths open but not plugged in...

Cute imagery, TRONZ.

Good job feeding those LEAFs!

 

[jkolsrud]

What was the URL on the Nissan Leaf bracelet? There is an ap there using Google maps to show road distance to destinations that you input. Lost the paper that I wrote it on ...

 

[Boomer23]

See my full write up of my driving experiences with mwalsh at Alt Car Expo on Friday, Sept 30 on my blog at:

http://drivingelectric.blogspot.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[TRONZ]

Here are the Santa Monica Pier CC units. Very surprised to be the only EV here all day.

Would have preferred this though.

 

[Boomer23]

Ahh, TRONZ, you discovered the AV QC unit "behind the scenes"! Looks like they fixed whatever was up with it on Friday.

Great news about the Pier units, though. Santa Monica appears to get it that more and more EVs are coming, and many of them are coming to SM!

 

[mwalsh]

Here are the Santa Monica Pier CC units. Very surprised to be the only EV here all day.

I don't think anyone else realizes they're there yet. Except, maybe, RAV4EV drivers that have turned up at their "normal spot" since the change out.

 

[Kataphn]

Are those park spots at SM pier ever ICEd? From Tronz's pictures, it does not look like they have signage or markings in the spots. Are ICE cars forbidden from parking there?

 

[mwalsh]

Are those park spots at SM pier ever ICEd? From Tronz's pictures, it does not look like they have signage or markings in the spots. Are ICE cars forbidden from parking there?

That "No Parking" sign you can see between the green boxes reads "Electric Vehicles Only". There is at least one more sign like that on the row of spaces, just out of picture beside the green box closest to us.

Also, for those who may not know.....Parking Enforcement in SM will look for the CA State issued EV Parking sticker (at least for now), and will ticket if they don't see it, EV or not.

 

[malloryk]

Also, for those who may not know.....Parking Enforcement in SM will look for the CA State issued EV Parking sticker (at least for now), and will ticket if they don't see it, EV or not.

or they might even ticket you if they do see it! :roll:

 

[TRONZ]

I have been on the SM Pier several times. So far I have only seen EV's parked there. The City of SM typically parked a bunch of their Rav4's there. I think they have returned these old EV's to Toyota (for new ones) which allowed more J1772 upgrades here. They still have one legacy paddle but that's it. You can also see the stations to your left as you start down the ramp from the PCH. If they are taken, you can turn around before paying to park. It is by far the best EV parking spaces for a day along the boardwalk.