On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 14:29:29 -0500, Willie via EV <[email protected]> you wrote: >On 9/15/19 1:01 PM, Josh L wrote: > >> I would ask if perhaps you and others, if you drive Teslas, >> could start making a little bit more clear to Tesla that here in >> Santa Cruz County, Arizona, on the way to Mexico from Tucson, we >> have no DCFC of any sort (and we have only one proper J1772, and >> that's because I partnered with someone to put it in), and if >> they could see it in their hearts, it might eventualy get some >> use if they could put something in (though I must admit, it's >> not a major thoroughfare, and I would predict any supercharger >> here will not get good use at first, so they might want to >> compromise by first taking the low cost measure of working with >> some hotels in Nogales, AZ to put in destination charging, and >> then see how that goes.) > >I guess you've been here:? >https://www.tesla.com/charging-partners > >I imagine you have lobbied potential Destination Charge hosts? It's >really quite a deal. At least, it used to be. The hosts get free Wall >Connectors and likely a J1772 also. They agree to install and not >charge a fee for charging. They can restrict charging to customers.
Yes, I have been there and applied once or twice, particularly in conjunction with the partner who has helped make possible the one local public J1772 (which is a project that has gone pretty well in terms of occasiona, but slowly growing, feedback), as I think that's a unique sales pitch. No response from Tesla, that I'm aware. I've also lobbied the hotels in Nogales, AZ to apply and/or do other things, and no dice. I've also penned an op-ed in the local newspaper trying to shame them into action since there is actually one hotel in Nogales on the Tesla destination station program, and with a clipper creek also, but that is in Nogales, Mexico. No dice, the hotels in Nogales, AZ just don't care that their counterparts in Mexico have beaten them to the punch. Going back to my original take on this thread, the main thing I was responding to was not the lack of infrastructure but the lack of vehicles for sale.... particularly the lack of "the good stuff".... the long-range BEVs. For example, the Ford and Chevy dealers in Nogales, AZ did not sell EVs last I checked. One thing to note was apparently Chevy required not only the service dept but the sales dept to pass some sort of exam. Meanwhile, time passes and the rest of the world joins the 21st century. I won't go through the checklist of all the local dealers, but, for the most part, either they do not sell BEVs at all, or the BEVs they sell are questionable on cooling (Leaf), or they're at a compliance car level (eg: Ford Focus BEV). Yes, there are some Chevy dealers north of here that do sell the Bolt. >I was thrilled a couple of years ago when Matehuala completed the chain >to central Mexico. To the point of getting a new passport. Sadly, I >got cold feet when I started reading about State Department Mexico >travel advisories. This year's long trip was to Canada so I did get to >use the passport. > >Are you a frequent traveler to Mexico? If so, do you have comments on >travel safety? I'm guessing Puerto Penasco and Guaymas are attractive >destinations from your area? I have in recent years grown a little more adventurous about this, but I would not characterize myself as having a lot of experience in this area, and the Mexican side of my comments was not originally the main impetus for my posts. I was more responding to some of what I was reading in the shoddy attitude of some vehicle dealers in Alberta, and riffing off that toward my own sense that there are large regions in the US (and I guess Canada and Mexico) that (other than Tesla) do not have really good access to a good selection of good long-lasting moderately-depreciating long-range BEVs. Sometimes I think of it as slightly similar to the political back-and-forth in the US and the topic of "flyover" states and whether the wishes and needs of rural areas, in general, are being ignored. I do think it will be helpful if Walmarts are transformed into DCFC spots, though so far the Walmart in Nogales (at one time one of the busiest in the world?) is not close to getting it done. With that said, and especially when I looked at your map, yes, there's some interesting things to discuss about the Mexican side of this. I do think it's interesting to look at that supercharger map and see the conspicuous hole in Northwest Mexico and Baja, but I do think it needs to be quickly added that Tesla has done some good things here, particularly with its Grupo Posadas partnership leading to some L2 dots on the maps). Yes, San Carlos and Rocky Point are the two trips I've been driven by friends into Mexico, and there is certainly an issue of planning your trip to avoid areas that the US authorities indicate are dangerous. I think this impacted our planning for the trip to Rocky point. https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories/mexico-travel-advisory.html As I've scoped out buying an EV, that trip has been on my mind, as it basically involved something on the order of ~200 highway high-heat miles with no access to good public charging. Not a suitable trip for a Bolt or a used Tesla with an under-200 battery. It also (IMO) points to a supercharger or at least L2 opportunity, such as at or near the Native American casino near Why, AZ. I've also (for the first time) recently driven in Mexico and this was to Hermosillo. Hermosillo has some knowledgeable EV advocates (including some on this list I believe), and was an early bright spot, and a few charge stations, and overall our goal is to build up what we are calling a "Green Cactus Highway", with a focus on the route between Tucson and Hermosillo. Gradually different parties are contributing to this emerging, including Nissan, Grupo Posadas hotels, Mercedes, etc. I've also been heartened to see the comments of a few Tesla drivers here or there on plugshare along the route, .... they know what's going on.... and I like seeing the occasional 120 Volt or 240 Volt plug made available on plugshare in Mexico, as it shows me that there is even some more momentum. Now, if only Nogales, AZ would do more to join the 21st century. >About 30 years ago, my wife and I went to Basaseachi (from Texas) in an >Isuzu pickup, then finished crossing the mountains to Hermosillo (where >we were able to get suspension repairs) on a not completed Hwy 16. I >look forward to eventually seeing what progress has been made on that road. That's quite the adventure, thanks for sharing. > >> For example, if I go to (or call) one of the local Hyundai >> dealers, so far the answer on getting a Kona BEV is "no". > >Tesla wants to sell you a car. Traditional dealers do not. Screw 'em. >Help Tesla eat their lunch. Yes, I'm on board with acknowledging that there are clear advantages, in some ways, to going through Tesla for a vehicle. Still, for such large amounts of money (to me) I have to do what I have to do, so if I have to trade for a used Bolt, or buy a used Tesla but at a traditional dealer, then that's what I will do. As to a used Bolt, I'd like to save myself $10k-$20k (a huge amount IMO) beyond a used Tesla, and many of the drivers seem happy, and it has the safety record I want and liquid cooling I want for this region, but, other than the comparatively smaller battery, I don't like the styling compared to Tesla - I don't like that Chevy seems inherently and needlessly to have mis-characterized BEV drivers as being econocar-focused types. I wish they hadn't done that, but I still might have to buy it, as a matter of personal financial responsibility. One more obscure point about Mexican driving - the streets of Nogales, Mexico are awful here and there. I'm told that some of the drivers around here will deliberately keep a vehicle that is more appropriate for driving on those streets. This gives me some concern about doing any extensive BEV driving there, with the very heavy battery closer to the under-carriage of the vehicle. There would seem to be the possibility of damage to the under-carriage of the vehicle. However, to be fair, I haven't heard of any incidents yet, so maybe it is not an issue. I will be curious to learn more from other drivers of whether they see that as an issue. I'll also be curious someday to learn more as to planning public stations in this area, and what the issues are on both sides of the line. > > >_______________________________________________ >UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub >ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html >INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org >Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
