SoCal LEAF & EV Gatherings Y10, Suspended, 15 Mar 2020

[garygid]

Linda & I, with 4 others, ate at the Golden Corral in Downey on May 1st. Being a Sunday, and arriving at about 10:34 AM, the parking lot was overcrowded, the line to pay was moving very slowly, limited by groups waiting for tables to free up. So, it was jammed full, inside and out.

The good feature was the Tesla urban SuperChargers that are also located in the too-small parking lot. Linda reported that the restroom for females was clean, unlike at the restroom at "our" GC in the City of Industry.

Perhaps Sunday is (always?) a very crowded day in Downey, and perhaps earlier on a Saturday it is much better.

However, I estimate that the amount of parking at the Downey GC is less than a quarter of the parking available at the GC in the City of Industry.

I will investigate further, likely for breakfast at 8am on the 14th, and ... this coming Saturday, I will talk to the management at "our" GC about their woman's bathroom.

If Saturday is much better in Downey, we might try Gathering there every other month.

Hope to see you all on Saturday, 7 May, at "our" GC in the City of Industry.

[91040]

Downey is too short a trip for me, no challenge.

[JasonA]

Downey is too short a trip for me, no challenge.

It would have been on your old Leaf battery with now 4 or 5 KwH or remaining capacity!

2 or 3 CHAdeMO charges just to get there and back.

[91040]

No charging would be needed. I’d just have to limit my speed to 10mph.

[tbleakne]

Report on 2-day, 1-night trip to Anza Borrego
Start: Claremont
Cabazon SC-150kW max, 15min top-off, a few new Urban chargers added
Rancho Mirage:
Hang out with friends
Visit Sunnylands, former Anneberg Estate that hosted presidents from Reagan to Obama
Rancho Mirage SC-72kW Urban, major charge,
while we dined at Acqua California Bistro
Successfully tested rule that if SC is less than 50% occupied, no idle fees accrue if you leave car plugged in after
completing its charge.
Indio SC-150kw max, 12 min top-off because no SC until next afternoon

Adventure getting to Borrego Springs through desert flash flood Thursday Mar 12.
primary road closed due to flooding
second road also had flooding, but with highway workers watching, I made it across.
never thought to raise variable suspension, which would have been wise
perhaps 9-11in deep, seemingly gentle running water across road.
Made it to my lodging at Borrego Valley Inn
clouds parted, got some good first night sky photos with new f1.4 24mm Sigma lens
photos of Orion show many more starts than I can see with naked eye
15 sec exposure on tripod with ASA 2000.
No charging available at any lodging in town
Room happened to be located close to parking near rear of room.
In morning I tried Quick220 with pair of outlets in room, and I scored 220V.
I set up cables out the back patio of room, over the wall, through the desert scrub to my car
Got 6 miles of charge while eating breakfast.
Took west route over mountains to Julian, well-paved 2-lane state highway
On mountain curves, car warned me several times to "take control" when I veered too close to
right edge of roadway to avoid oncoming traffic.
On straight stretches of this road, I used "Auto-steer" to keep me centered, but turned it off when opposing traffic approached
It would be better on such roads, I believe, to allocate 2/3 of lane margin to left side, 1/3 to right side, to increase margin
from on coming traffic.
Nice soup in Julian
Long road over to I-15, windy.
heavy rain and traffic on I-15 but felt safe with Auto-steer
Extra 70 miles of range in 2018MS allowed me to avoid crowds near Temecula SC
Arrived Manifee SC-150kW max with 20% margin
Charged 15 min at Menifee starting at 144kW.
Early dinner with friend at Rustic Fork in Riverside on Allessandro Blvd.
Onto home in early evening.

[Boomer23]

Nice report tbleakne.

Sounds like a fun trip with a bit of excitement/challenge/inconvenience thrown in.

Did you see any flowers in Borrego or is this season really a bust, as it seems.

[garygid]

Further SoCal EV Gatherings are Suspended!!!

NOTE: Due to the growing risk of CV-19 infection, our EV Gatherings at HTB & GC are suspended: no Gathering on 21 Mar at HTB, and no Gatherings in April or May.

Please stay wisely isolated. Hopefully we will all get through this virus situation successfully.

We will try to set up some video conferencing, possibly using Skype (but it might be limited to 3 or 4?) or using Facebook Messenger (which probably supports larger video conferences).

Suggestions for private meetings are welcome, but please consider well the risks.

Sincerely, Gary

[JeremyW]

Something fun to watch while you're on lock down. I was interviewed by Transport Evolved while at CES.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwAL8JUdW68

[91040]

Go anteaters! Zot, zot!

[JeremyW]

Is anyone interested in OpenEVSE parts? I have a Barbouri through hole version, and a v4 SMD board, along with an RGB display and some other odds and ends. No complete EVSE, no J1772 cables. Free, just paypal me actual shipping costs.