Attendees
What a great mix of engineers and technologists. Of course there were some who didn't really understand why they were sent (i.e., to get them OUT of the office.) Others trying to get the Cliff Notes for one of Munro's detailed, $70-100k, reports. My favorites were the 'good ole' boys' who came just to hang out with each other and swap war stories. Sad to say, I skipped the social hour because I had an experiment to finish and being retired, I'm not 'in their network.' I'll have more details about myself in this section.
This guest speaker didn't show up with hardcopy of his presentation. Although I admire his goals, I have little confidence in his business practices. You should never build a business on screwing someone else and he is no friend to Tesla. I would need private time with him to discuss a better approach, a 'win-win.' Right now, he is 'I win and Tesla loses.'
The first attendee I tried to chat with mentioned getting a Hummer and 'cold effects.' These are common EV hostile opinions. So I mentioned rumors of an EV Hummer but suggested it would just be a Tahoe with boxy fendors, raised, and knobby tires. I didn't mention that pre-bankruptcy, GM required the word "hybrid" embedded in the paint scheme and killing an excellent CUV hybrid I got to test drive in the snow.
About the cold, I shared that when we had a cold snap in Dixie with temperatures down to 16F, I drove my 2003 Prius to Georgia and back. I found the decrease in MPG paralleled with the temperature defined, air density. I added that both our BMW i3-REx and Tesla have a pre-conditioning that keeps the battery at an optimum temperature. Our EVs are like small huts connected to the grid for power needed to maintain a friendly temperature. He seemed impressed when I shared that I drove 786.8 mi to the conference and only $24.92 in SuperCharger costs.
With the exception of the old guys who'd worked together in the past, the 'youngsters' were sensitive about talking with others. I sensed they were almost paranoid about what they worked on and afraid talk with strangers. There was very little user involvement so I recommend the following:
- Tags should show 'nickname' and 'organization'
For example, this is mine:
I'm "Bob" but they listed me by the formal, "Robert." Also, there is nothing showing I'm "Retired" which means I'm safe to talk with. The other icons do nothing to introduce me to strangers, a problem at this event. Notice I'm in old school engineering dress, pocket pen and glasses. When I asked about parking, their mentioned bringing a coat and I though 'do they want me in a shirt, tie, and business dress?' So I showed up in my last Dilbert shirt and changed in the parking lot to my normal dress.
So here is the swag bag thoughtfully labeled "BOB" but so too were all the others.
I didn't unwrap the pen (SWAG pens are notoriously unreliable) and also left the mini engineering log book in the wrapper because I brought:
My own clipboard with the data sheet for my drive up. Not shown, are the three Tesla charging pages I left with the Munro staff about optimum long distance travel.
I asked one of the Munro senior managers about how they got the HP numbers for the different cars. He said, 'We outsource that to local suppliers.' We then chatted about the EPA "Test Car Database" and I joked about how at Oklahoma State we used to say 'Engineering is pre-business.' In fact, Munro is not in the operations business but the 'how to build' business.
If I'd stayed for the social hour, I might have found the other four who drove there in Teslas. We could have gotten together so I could show them how I 'campout in the car' and discuss about using an RV park for L2 charging or taking an overnight nap.
Bob Wilson