April 20, 2014 7:30 am • By CLIFFORD FEWEL Special to the Daily Sun(0) Comments
CEO Elon Musk pays a visit to the La Posada hotel and its new electric
Four months ago Allan Affeldt, owner of the La Posada hotel in Winslow, ordered a Tesla supercharger for the La Posada parking lot “because it’s the right thing to do,” he says.
A Tesla supercharger is a device that will charge any all-electric luxury/performance Tesla vehicle in an hour — much, much faster than your standard trickle-chargers for more modest electric vehicles made by other manufacturers.
Affeldt also plans to install charging stations for those other cars, none of which match, as does Tesla, the high-end demographic of those who regularly patronize La Posada and its four-star Turquoise Room restaurant.
Affeldt recently installed a half-acre array of solar panels on the La Posada grounds, making his the largest privately owned collection of solar panels in northern Arizona.
Now, in addition to the electric needs of the upscale hotel, those panels power not one, but two power stations for any Tesla cars that happen by the historic Harvey House hotel, which was designed nearly 100 years ago by legendary Arizona architect Mary Jane Coulter.
The Tesla car company now has a chain of charging stations that will get you and your Tesla from coast to coast, given its range of 300 miles per charge. The need for the second Tesla supercharger came about when Affeldt learned that hotel reservations had been made by one noted billionaire, Elon Musk, and a large entourage to include three Model S Teslas.
Apparently Musk was on a rare vacation with his wife, children, parents, brother and security team, taking in the Grand Canyon, Route 66 and other Southwestern sites.
As to how the Musk party happened to make reservations the very same week that Affeldt’s single supercharger was to be installed “is a mystery,” says Affeldt. But it was also a rare opportunity to have the first user of his system be Musk himself, the man who joined a struggling electric vehicle company several years ago and turned it into the global leader in e-car technology.
“Once I knew he was coming I added a second charger,” says Affeldt, “and my electrician worked every day to get the system up.”
The system cost Affeldt over $10,000 for two 100-amp charging circuits, each requiring a 200-amp breaker, each drawing 80 amps per charge.
A REAL CAR GUY
One week ago Musk’s three Tesla sedans rotated through the chargers while he and his family enjoyed the ambiance, art and cuisine of Affeldt’s La Posada and Chef John Sharpe’s highly decorated Turquoise Room.
Affeldt suspects that the Turquoise Room may have been the original draw, as Musk’s bother, Kimbal, is “a foodie guy, well-known for his interest in locovore, sustainable-harvest foods” — the specialties of the British-born Chef Sharpe. Whether the hotel or the restaurant was the reason, says Affeldt, “It was just a really nice coincidence.”
In his sunny upstairs office at La Posada, it becomes clear that Affeldt’s passions go beyond resurrecting a once seemingly doomed hotel building, or donating land for a much-needed Winslow detox center, or diving into local politics to the point of serving a term as Winslow’s mayor a few years back.
It turns out Affeldt is a real car guy.
As to whether he one day will own a Tesla, Affeldt says, “It’s the kind of thing I would do, but I’m kind of a retro guy. I own an old Ferrari, and what I drive mostly is the truck, a Ford F-350.”
BRING ON IRON MAN
Affeldt says he has been following the arc of Elon Musk’s career ever since Musk founded PayPal, where he made his fortune, and his work with Tesla and SpaceX, a company out to revolutionize private space travel.
“The cool thing about this guy is that he takes on things people say can’t be done,” says Affeldt. “He was the inspiration for the Iron Man movies. He is Tony Stark, billionaire inventor. Someone once asked Google co-founder Sergey Brin what he was going to do with all his money, maybe give it to charity? He said the best thing he could ever do for the world with his money would be to give it to Elon.”
Meanwhile, after spending more time with Musk’s brother, Kimbal, than with the more private Elon, Affeldt says he is looking forward to partnering with the younger Musk brother on a venture known as Learning Gardens.
“These are modular edible gardens designed for school districts, so kids know what it’s like to be around food and learn where it comes from,” he says.
