Nice writeup of the owners club summit in InsideEVs
Factory Tour
As part of the Tesla Owners Club Summit in Fremont, we visited the Tesla factory for a tour.
Although we’re not allowed to talk about what we saw there, the factory speaks volumes of Tesla’s success in getting these vehcles designed and built.
The Model S/X line and the new Model 3 line were running at full strength to meet the ongoing demand for product. We spent a bit of time on the tour trying to spot the odd right-hand-drive vehicle (none were spotted on the 3 line, unfortuantely!)
Senate Inquiry into Electric Vehicles
The Australian Government is holding an Inquiry into Elecric Vehicles through a senate committee chaired by independent SA senator, Tim Storer.
The terms of reference of the inquiry are:
- the potential economic, environmental and social benefits of widespread electric vehicle uptake in Australia;
- opportunities for electric vehicle manufacturing and electric vehicle supply and value chain services in Australia, and related economic benefits;
- measures to support the acceleration of electric vehicle uptake;
- measures to attract electric vehicle manufacturing and electric vehicle supply and value chain manufacturing to Australia;
- how federal, state and territory Governments could work together to support electric vehicle uptake and manufacturing, supply, and value chain activities; and
- any other related matters.
Although they are not holding a public hearing in Perth, there have been hearings in Brisbane on 27 Sep 2018, Melbourne on 31 Aug 2018 and in Canberra on 17 Aug 2018.
The commitee is due to report on 18 Oct 2018 in Canberra.
TOCWA did not submit as an organisation, but members of the committee took some of our input, and made their own submissions – these submissions are linked below
Tesla also made a direct submission
You can see the full inquiry page here
Sylvia’s Round Australia Trip
Sylvia visited Perth back in April, and there’s a great writeup of her trip here:
Sylvia , 70, completes round-Australia trip in an EV for …. $150.90
New Kimberley charging stations powering our driving future
PRESS RELEASE
By Horizon Power on 16 March 2018
Electric vehicles can now travel across WA’s Kimberley region, thanks to three new charging stations servicing the 900km stretch of Northern Highway between Kununurra and Derby.
The stations have been installed by Horizon Power in the remote Kimberley communities of Warmun, Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing, completing the ‘missing link’ for electric vehicle charging availability around Australia’s perimeter.
Due to their limited travelling range, electric vehicles were previously only able to reach Kununurra in the East Kimberley, or Derby in the West Kimberley.
Tara Stigwood, Horizon Power Retail and Community Manager East Kimberley said the charging stations were part of the electricity utility’s commitment to a sustainable energy future for regional Western Australia.
“Knowing they can now complete their journey through the Kimberley will encourage more electric vehicle users to travel through this magnificent part of Australia,” Ms Stigwood said.
“That’s great for local businesses and the people in our remote communities.”
“We have a range of exciting projects across the state focusing on providing innovative energy choices for customers,” Ms Stigwood said.
“Making electricity available to power vehicles is just one of the ways we’re working toward our vision for the future of energy.”
Chris Jones, National Secretary of the Australian Electric Vehicle Association said using electric vehicles has a number of benefits.
“In addition to saving on fuel, electric cars are quieter than those with internal combustion engines, and have no exhaust emissions which improves public health and reduces ecological impacts,” Mr Jones said.
The new vehicle charging stations are located at the Warmun Roadhouse, Halls Creek Service Station and Fitzroy Crossing Roadhouse.
To view the network of 450 electric vehicle charging stations across Australia visit https://www.plugshare.com/
For media queries, please contact the media line on 1800 799 745.
Newsletter – 2018, Number 1
Hi All Teslans,
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2018, and a special welcome to our new members, we hope you had a wonderful summer season and we look forward to a great year ahead.
Here is an update of our recent news:
Affiliation
Tesla Owners Club Western Australia (TOCWA) is now official, Tesla motors USA accepted our application and Australia now holds the distinction of being the only country outside of the USA to have an official regional based club. Although TOCWA are completely independent of Tesla owners club Australia (TOCA) both clubs are keen to work together when required, a big thank you to Annie Atkins for putting in the hard work and communicating with Tesla and presenting our case.
Membership
TOCWA now has over 40 members and is keen to recruit more; membership is $50 per year and brings a host of benefits including access to charging cables, member’s discounts on Tesla official merchandise and discounts on TOCWA sponsors products.
Charging facilities
Basic AC charging options are popping up everywhere across both the metro area and regional areas, there are now over 44 locations with Tesla destination chargers and many more locations with 3 phase outlets dedicated to EV charging, AC charging is not the perfect long term solution but it’s low cost to install and gets the discussion started on future possibilities, as time goes on and the EV population increases faster DC charging will become the norm. Don’t forget to make full use of plugshare before and during charging.
Becoming an Outback EV warrior
Once you’ve become accustomed to the driving and charging an EV around the metro area you may like to try something more adventurous, the prerequisites are planning, patience and a spare tyre (you can borrow a spare wheel/tyre combo from McCarthy’s prestige in Claremont), start with the relative safety of the South west where there are a plentiful supply of charging options, a trip to Albany via Bridgetown is a good starter, after gaining experience with energy use on country roads, charging speeds and other factors you can then try trips to Esperance, Kalgoorlie or Geraldton. The 3 most important tips I could give you when country driving is study plugshare religiously, always have a charging plan B and drive at a speed that gives full respect to the unpredictable wildlife.
Upcoming events
TOCWA have a few events in the planning including a drive day to York on the 8th of April. Please mark this date in your calendar.
There are also a number of AEVA organised car events that are a great opportunity to pick up some tips and tricks from long term EV fanatics.
Useful resources
TOCWA has a twitter account @tesla_wa, a website-https://www.tocwa.org.au/ and a facebook group- Tesla Owners Club WA, if you are keen to keep up with the ever changing world of electric vehicles, battery storage, renewable energy and sustainability I recommend an Australian site http://reneweconomy.com.au/ and a California based site https://electrek.co/
Happy motoring
Rob Dean
TOCWA Chair.
Diesel Efficiency Challenge
TOCWA, along with AEVA, wanted to see if a Tesla Model S would be more efficient in its use of energy than an efficient diesel vehicle. So a test was run with a Volvo V40 T5 2L diesel against the same amount of power from a diesel generator.
Which do you think used less fuel for the same 100km run?
It’s also covered in this article at RenewEconomy
and this one at Elektrek
TOCWA completes affiliation with Tesla
Tesla Owners Club of Western Australia has completed its affiliation with Tesla.
We’re now officially part of the Tesla family through Tesla’s club programme.
As such, we now have a direct line for members interests into Tesla, and a role in coordinating events here in WA.
Model 75D “Uncorking”
If you have a recent 75D model S or X that was built before July 2017, you can get it “uncorked” to the same performance as the post July 2017 ones now – it depends on components and age, but well worth checking.
For the model S 75D the 0-100 time is 4.4 seconds down from 5.5 seconds, and for the model X 75D, 5.2 seconds down from 6.5 seconds.
One owner had theirs done today, and has noticed a significant improvement in performance.
This is one of the really unique things about Tesla – how many other cars have you owned where months after the original purchase, you get a free power upgrade?
Loan Charging Stock
TOCWA’s loan cable stock is now available for members to borrow.
We have:
3-phase tails for use with your Tesla-supplied mobile charger,
ChaDeMo adapter for use at the UWA fast charger and the RAC Electric Highway chargers,
Type1 adapter for use at chargers such as at the convention centre, Leederville and Garden City,
Type2-Type2 cable for use at chargers such as Home Base Subiaco.
We will also soon have available to members, discounted cables for purchase. If you are interested, or would like to borrow a cable, please get in touch.