Casa Grande Meet-Up, January 31 at SCS

We plan to be there unless something comes up. We can't help with the area or a home unless you want to drive back to the Desert Ridge area. The subjects I'd like to hear about at some point are:
1. Current solar options and if it's worth it
2. Charging options are good
3. Hotels that people have gone to that have been EV friendly
4. EV legislation would be a great subject. Maybe knowing who to contact. Offer them rides in our cars to given them an understanding of the car and why it's important to get off foreign oil with an all-American car.
5. Challenges with people who may be anti-EV and if there's any way of countering their objections. I'm not for confrontation, but when they ask questions, I would like to be better prepared.
6. Items that might be helpful to protect the car from vandalism. Ex. Blackvue cameras

That's it.
Go Cards!

A timely thread, as I have just been perusing the map in order to....

....learn whether or not we can get from/back to the Casa Grande SpC with a visit to Kartchner Caverns. In a few weeks we will be hosting family members who have expressed an adamant desire to visit these magnificent caves. As an aside, Jenny and I were spelunking with them four days ago near their home in....New Zealand! So we definitely owe them the best Arizona can offer (we returned from NZ late last night. What a trip!).

Back to this thread, I see that from the SpC to Kartchner is 118 miles, meaning the round-trip most definitely is doable. However, I'm not sure if the caves would be feasible for a meet-up such as ours, as all would have to have close to a 100% full charge at Casa Grande.

???????

AudubonB said:

A timely thread, as I have just been perusing the map in order to....

....learn whether or not we can get from/back to the Casa Grande SpC with a visit to Kartchner Caverns. In a few weeks we will be hosting family members who have expressed an adamant desire to visit these magnificent caves. As an aside, Jenny and I were spelunking with them four days ago near their home in....New Zealand! So we definitely owe them the best Arizona can offer (we returned from NZ late last night. What a trip!).

Back to this thread, I see that from the SpC to Kartchner is 118 miles, meaning the round-trip most definitely is doable. However, I'm not sure if the caves would be feasible for a meet-up such as ours, as all would have to have close to a 100% full charge at Casa Grande.

???????

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Unless some of us have upgraded to the new 120kW battery at the swap station in CA before doing our road trip out to AZ. Of course we would pick up our old 85kW A pack on the return trip.

Yikes, Rob. What you write suggests I have some catching up to do on new developments during our NZ trip! Unless you're kidding.....

You might want to call Mimi's Cafe. They have a back room that they might let us use that is big enough for your projected group size. It is practically across the road from Culvers. No doubt we would have to eat there, but I don't think that will be a problem.

Another alternative is Olive Garden. It is also across the street. It has partitioned eating areas as well. Not quite as private, but it is bigger.

There are two Level 2 chargers (J1772) at Bookman's on Speedway as well. I got about 44 miles per hour from them this past week, whereas I'm told the HPWCs at La Paloma are limited to 40A so you only get about 29 miles per hour of charge.

Killface said:

There are two Level 2 chargers (J1772) at Bookman's on Speedway

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Is that the one near Country Club or near Wilmot (both show up in Google)? How much do they charge for the service?

Bookman's is a wonderful, environmental friendly business that was a great supporter of the GM EV1 program back in the 1990's. I used their EV1 MagnaChargers at 3 locations, Country Club Rd in Mesa and at both the Grant Rd and Ina Rd stores while visiting in Tucson. The Ina Rd location was especially useful when returning to Phoenix because it's at the far north side of Tucson near I-10. I could get enough charge there to make it to the MagnaChargers in Casa Grande. I think the owner drove an EV1, but I could be mistaken. The stores have a great ambience, I spent a lot of time browsing and frequently bought some things. They have a great selection of used books and media. I haven't been there recently but I have heard that they still offer EV charging. This would be a good location for a Tesla driver to spend some time in Tucson if they needed some miles to get to the SuperChargers in Casa Grande. I'll try to attach a picture from 1999 of my red EV1 charging at the Ina Rd location.

Bookman's - Ina Rd, Tucson, 1999

Here in Tucson the "best" public access charging is behind Bookman's Sports Exchange (3330 E Speedway Blvd). There is an 80 Amp (J1772 plug) GOE3 Charger, which is managed by ChargePoint. I don't believe there is a charge to use this site. Other options are the 40 Amp limited HPWC at La Paloma (3800 E Sunrise Dr). I do not know if they allow the general public to use these chargers. There are "Blink" charging stations throughout town as well as a few people who participate in the Plug Share program.