Tesla Trade-up

[Doug_G]

A local blogger, inspired by the guy who traded up from a paper clip to a house, is trying to trade up from a camera to a Tesla Roadster.

http://teslatradeup.com/

Good luck!

[teslatradeup]

Hi Doug,

I had no clue someone in Ottawa owned a Tesla Roadster! Do you know if you are the only one?

Thanks for the post and please spread the word!

Would you have anything you'd like to trade? )

Martin

[Doug_G]

There are three Roadsters in Ottawa. One is owned by Natural Resources Canada; you'll never see it on the road but it is currently on display at the museum of science and technology. There is also a yellow one, but I have yet to see it.

Sorry not looking to trade.

[teslatradeup]

Oh man - it was worth a shot - I think my latest item will be just as hard to trade as the telephone switch!

I saw you driving north of Huntclub on Woodroffe near my house (I live off of Knoxdale)... if ever you're driving near that area again - I would die if stopped for a surprise visit! Tims/Starbucks is on me!

I do need more followers so if anyone on here can spread the word on twitter - my account is @teslatradeup. I also have a fan page HERE and would appreciate some likes!

Thanks again Doug for the shout out!

[teslatradeup]

Just as an update... I partnered up with a cool swapping websit called Swapsity.ca.

Hopefully that will help to get more exposure and generate more interest. Thanks for checking me out everyone!

[Doug_G]

If you want to eyeball my car, the local EV club talked me into participating in the St. Patrick's Day parade tomorrow. They'll have a conversion along as well as several electric bicycles, and my Tesla. I'll go as long as we don't have a blizzard (no snow tires!).

[teslatradeup]

Oh man - I wish I would have read this earlier! I totally missed this... How did it go Doug? Are you going to take part in any other meets or events in the near future?

[Doug_G]

Had a great event. Beautiful weather, a little above freezing, and the sun even paid a surprise visit. As I had the top down (with the heat on - very comfy), I managed to get a slight sunburn - in March!

EVCO (Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa) organized a number of electric vehicles of various sorts. There were two cars - a Solectria conversion and my Tesla. There were also several electric-conversion bicycles, and an electric motorbike.

Despite the raucous music following a bit behind us, it was easy to talk to the crowd. Helps to have a quiet car. Any time someone commented on the car we replied back that it is electric. A few people said it should have been painted green, so I replied back that being electric it was green inside.

Anyway, it was fun and a great opportunity to spread the word about EVs. The EVCO guys are talking about doing the Caribana parade in the summer. They might be able to twist my arm again.

[teslatradeup]

That sounds like fun. I might join this forum for sure... maybe people will be interested in my quest.

I was just curious - did you ever take a drive from Ottawa to Toronto? Can the Roadster make it on a charge? Is there a quick charge station anywhere in between?

[Doug_G]

I was just curious - did you ever take a drive from Ottawa to Toronto? Can the Roadster make it on a charge? Is there a quick charge station anywhere in between?

A Model S with the 300 mile pack could do it, but for the Roadster it would be at the hairy edge, even if you went only as far as Scarborough and drove at 80 kph under ideal conditions. To be sure of enough range you'd have to drive at 60 kph, which would be dangerous on the 401. If you tried that on Hwy 7 you'd irritate a lot of people, because of the lack of passing lanes. And it would take 7 hours. It's simply not practical.

Tesla is trying to get an HPC installed somewhere in Kingston. If they make it happen, the Ottawa/Toronto trip will be easy. Stop off in Kingston for lunch and away you go.

Hans brought the Toronto demo car to Ottawa on the same day my car was delivered, to do a couple of local test rides. When he got here he was on fumes, but was able to charge up on my HPC. He charged at a KOA campground near Kingston, and they charged him the full rate for a serviced slot for 24 hours - $75. I guess it's not a huge big deal considering what you'd pay for gas for the same trip, but he probably only used $2 of electrons.