National Drive Electric Week

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September 14-22 is the National Drive Electric Week for 2019.  Most events are the weekend of the 14th or weekend of the 21st, though some do occur during the week itself.  Check out the map for an event near you.

 

I plan to attend the Corpus Christi Event on Sunday the 15th, as well as the Houston event at Ikea on Saturday the 21st.

 

I was surprised to see there's now three other events in Houston!  I might be able signed up to attend the one on the 14th, the other two are at the same time as the Ikea event.

 

If you're going to show off your Tesla at an event you might like to print out some handouts.  I've made handouts for the S, X, and 3 and will be updating them next week before I print out a new batch for the events.  Check my pinned tweet for instructions on how to download them, and feel free to make revisions such as an image of your vehicle and your referral code.

 

 

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I made a new version of the Model 3 handout that's meant to be printed on legal paper and folded in half. I used the extra space to add an example trip using my road trip to Wisconsin.

 

Any input?

 

 

 

 

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There's now a total of 6 handouts, a letter and legal size each for the S, 3, and X.  Get them via my pinned tweet.

 

I also remembered I have placard holders that I use for retro gaming events, so made something for it.

 

 

 

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Added a 2nd placard to highlight OTA updates, especially Dog Mode.

 

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Turnout at Saturday's event in Bellaire was great! Talked to a lot of people and quite a few kids played Beach Buggy Racing 2 (I had a couple USB controllers plugged in).  I was interviewed by Jordan Blum of the Houston Chronicle, brief bit about my recent road trip to Wisconsin made the cut - Houston car lovers get charged up at EV show

 

 

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There were fewer cars at the Corpus Christi event on Sunday, but way more people showed up to check them out - I gave away twice as many of my handouts as the Bellaire event. Many were shocked at how affordable electric cars now are, even before factoring in the fuel savings (my annual $2000 for gas is now $500 for electricity). The average new car price is $37,401, Tesla Model 3 at $35,000, Chevy Bolt at $36,620, etc. There are less expensive models, though they're more of a city car due to limited range.

I was interviewed by KRIS TV 6, which my sister saw on the news last night, but haven't had any luck finding their coverage of the event online.

 

 

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The "photo" I used for Dog Mode was actually a frame from a video. The reflections in the glass, combined with the reflections of the placard holder, made it difficult to read "My owner will be back soon" at the events so I headed over to my folks last night and did another photo-shoot with Spicey!  Also discovered that Dog Mode works with the windows down, so besides it being clearer due to photo vs video frame, there's also no longer any window reflections to contend with.

 

 

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Awesome turnout for the Houston event at Ikea, I gave away as many handouts as the prior two events combined.

 

Last year I gave rides, so was positioned in the parking lot. With the gaming setup I didn't give rides this year, so ended up on the concrete slab in front of Ikea.  Was great in the morning as we were shaded by the building, but the last hour of the event was quite hot.

 

I'd planned to take photos early on but people started showing up even before the event officially began at 10, so I didn't get to walk around to take photos until 12:53.  Most of the EVs in the parking lot had already left as the event ended at 1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This gray wrapped 3 showed up at the very end.

 

 

The kids managed to unlock all but the last 2 drivers and last 2 tracks over the past 2 weekends.

 

 

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No NDEW events last year.  Significantly fewer this year.  

 

There was only one Houston event this year, vs four in 2019.  It was located an elementary school in Bellaire. Fewer people showed up than at either of the 2 Houston events I attended in 2019.  Still had fun showing off Talith. A couple Mustang Mach Es were there so I finally got to check them out in person. Learned that their frunk has a neat feature - a drain plug!  The grey one's frunk was filled with ice and drinks.

 

Dad's birthday was Sunday so I did not attend the Corpus Christi event.

 

There's a few more Texas events coming up this weekend:

• San Antonio, Saturday from 10am - 4pm at The Pearl
• Bellmead (Waco), Saturday from 6pm - 9pm at Church of the Open Door
• Grapevine (D-F/W), Sunday from 4pm - 8:30pm at The REC of Grapevine

 

Note: I've removed the "2019" from the topic title.