John, Colleen, Julio, TJ, and Karen,
Thank you all so much for all the help and communications back and forth
through your large circle of colleagues there in the Keys to find me an
opportunity for 208-240V charging in Key West! And thanks especially to
John Melohn at FKAA in Key West for the offer! I will give you a call this
afternoon, John.
The planning and logistics for this trip in my Toyota RAV4-EV electric car
have taken longer than I thought and pushed back my timetable a bit. Rather
than trying to make it all the way down to Key West on Thursday (tomorrow!,
while here I am today still in Delray Beach as I write this, so no way
possible at this stage anyway) and then have to rush back to Marathon for
the GLEE Expo, I have decided to drive down to Key West after the GLEE Expo
on Sunday, and spend Monday and maybe Tuesday down there in Key West, and
just be more relaxed and leisurely about the whole thing. ... You know,
sort of kick back, island style, and be on island time. :-) At least make
it a "working vacation". I am basically now expanding this trip into an
entire length of the Keys sort of promotional awareness tour for electric
cars. Not that Key West is unfamiliar with electric cars, there being tons
of them there, but of course I'm referring to highway-capable electric cars
here like my Toyota RAV4-EV. And not that there's anything wrong or
inferior with NEVs like all those found in Key West either. They are
terrific for their intended application and serve a very useful and valuable
purpose in those locations. It's actually great that Key West is already
such an EV-knowledgeable and EV-friendly place, so I would expect a welcome
reception and interest there in my electric car.
My mission for my entire length of the Keys trip in my RAV4-EV, as the
Charging Director for the Florida EAA, is to try to find 30-50A 208-240V
outlets which could serve as charging opportunities for our members to be
able to drive the entire length of the Keys in their electric cars, many of
which have only a 40 mile range at highway speeds (due to being powered by
lead-acid batteries). We are extremely grateful to the FKAA for their
generous hospitality they have extended to us to charge at their workshop in
Marathon last year and again this year, and now apparently in Key West as
well, which I will follow up on today, and also to TJ Patterson of Keys
Electric Coop for all of his assistance and coordination in facilitating
that opportunity for us with the FKAA as well as setting up temporary
charging facilities for us at Marathon High School for the GLEE Expo. Many
thanks also to Karen Beal for finding us another charging location on Key
Largo at the firehouse at MM99.
The last few days I have been online researching hotels throughout the Keys
where I will stay and also a number of marinas where I plan to ask about the
possibility of charging using their 30-50A 240V shore power outlets. At
least one of our members who had planned to drive his electric car to the
GLEE Expo this year (and actually has a house on Key Largo) ended up not
being able to make it because we could not find him anyplace to charge in
Islamorada, which he would have needed to make it from Key Largo to
Marathon, as his car has a 40 mile range at 45-55 mph. Basically what I
need to do is to find us charging locations in Islamorada and also somewhere
in the Big Pine Key to Summerland Key area, to add to those charging
locations we've already got in Key Largo, Marathon, and now hopefully also
Key West, in order to complete a charging network throughout the entire
length of the Keys that will allow even our members with lead-acid powered
electric cars to drive all the way to Key West and back.
With gas prices now averaging $3.80 and expected to reach $4.20 this summer,
and with oil over $120, and on last night's news (ABC World News) forecast
to go as high as $200 a barrel this year (which would portend $6-7
gasoline), I think this is a very opportune time for me to be making this
electric car promotional awareness tour and charging location search mission
through the entire Keys in conjunction with the GLEE Expo. I am fortunate
to have a wonderful, well engineered, production electric car with a
130-mile range, powered by advanced chemistry Nickel Metal Hydride
batteries. That gives me the luxury of being able to drive from Key Largo
to Marathon, and from Marathon to Key West, respectively, on single charges
and still have plenty of extra range to detour off the Overseas Highway
along the way and drive around in places like Islamorada, Big Pine Key, and
Summerland Key to look for marinas and such.
I would just like to thank and congratulate all of you associated with the
Keys GLEE Expo -- including Karen Beal, the Alt. Trans. coordinator, TJ
Patterson of Keys Electric Coop, Colleen Tagle and John Melohn of FKAA, and
Julio Barroso of Keys Energy Services -- for all of your excellent work and
collaboration with everything you're doing to promote green and sustainable
living throughout the Keys!!! You have definitely put the Florida Keys on
the map as the most progressive part of the state and have set an example of
environmental leadership and stewardship that is a model for the entire
state and are the envy of the entire state of Florida in that regard!!!
And as part of that effort, thanks again for everything you're doing to help
us in the Florida EAA promote awareness of highway-capable electric cars in
the Keys! I look forward to seeing you in the next few days.
Best regards,
Charles Whalen
Charging Director
Florida Electric Auto Association (www.floridaeaa.org)
Delray Beach, FL
tel: 561-638-6881
cell: 561-251-2387
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
----- Original Message -----
From: Colleen Tagle
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; John Melohn
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; Brent Cranney ; Roy Coley
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 10:34 AM
Subject: Re: HELP!
Great news, guys! Our Ops manager John Melohn is happy to help. Please have
our visitor call him directly at 13057472625 to discuss the details.
Thanks and see you at the Expo!
Colleen
747.0466.
------Original Message------
From: TJ Patterson
To: Julio Barroso
Cc: Charles Whalen
Cc: Karen Beal
Cc: Colleen Tagle
ReplyTo: TJ Patterson
Sent: May 6, 2008 8:55 AM
Subject: HELP!
Colleen,
HELP! Can you see if there is an outlet at FKAA in KW for us?
Thanks,
TJ
Barroso, Julio wrote:
Not sure of anyone off hand...let me know look in to it and let you
know.
Did you check with Colleen Tagle at FKAA to see if they have
something in Key West?
Julio J. Barroso
Communications / Marketing Coordinator
Keys Energy Services
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(305) 295-1023 & FAX: (305) 295-1005
1001 James Street, Key West, FL 33040
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
-----Original Message-----
From: TJ Patterson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2008 8:34 AM
To: Charles Whalen
Cc: Karen Beal; Barroso, Julio
Subject: Re: 1) my EV status update; 2) tentative itinerary; 3) 240V
charging in Key West?
Charles,
Give Julio Barroso a call at Keys Energy at 305-295-1000 and see if
he can find somebody for you. They may have something at their
office, I'm not sure. He knows a lot of people, though and could
probably find something. FKAA probably as a welding shop down
there as well and you could probably use it.
TJ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Whalen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Karen Beal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2008 4:25 PM
Subject: 1) my EV status update; 2) tentative itinerary; 3) 240V charging in
Key West?
Karen (and TJ),
Just wanted to give you an update on my vehicle status for what I'll be
bringing down to GLEE and also my tentative itinerary.
I tried but have been unable to repair my Vectrix electric motorcycle and
get it in an operative, functional state. So I am driving down there once
again this year in one of my Toyota RAV4-EVs (same as I did last year).
I will definitely be there for the media session on Friday afternoon.
Right now, depending on what I can accomplish and get done here in the next
day and a half, my plans are to drive down there either on Wednesday or
Thursday. (Last year I drove down on Thursday.) I haven't made my hotel
reservations yet and will wait 'til tomorrow to do so, when I will make my
decision about whether I'm coming down on Wednesday or Thursday. Either
way, I am planning to stay at BackFin Resort where I stayed last year,
mostly because they've got a marina there, where I am going to try to charge
my car. Last year I didn't have a plug adaptor for their 240-Volt marine
type outlets, but this year I do, so I am going to try to charge there. If
I'm unsuccessful in charging there, then I'll go over to the Keys Aqueduct
Authority workshop and charge there, where we charged last year. (That
would be on either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on which day I drive
down there.)
If I come down on Wednesday, as I'm hoping to do, I'd like to take the day
on Thursday to drive down to Key West and back to try to get us a 240 Volt
charging location down there. (I would actually need a 240V charge down
there in Key West in order to make it back up to Marathon.) Do either you
or TJ or anyone else you guys know involved in the Keys GLEE organization
know of any accessible outdoor 30-50A 208-240V outlets down there in Key
West which the property owners or business proprietors might be willing to
make available to us and host a charging location for us there?
Thanks & best regards,
Charles Whalen
Charging Director
Florida Electric Auto Association (www.floridaeaa.org)
Delray Beach, FL
tel: 561-638-6881
cell: 561-251-2387
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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