Tag Archives: Florida

Formula E Miami

March 12, 2015 Space Coast EV Drivers Team

It’s here! After a long wait from the announcement that formula e was going to be coming to Miami, FL the weekend is upon us!

Months ago when we first heard that the race was going to be in two U.S. locations we were very excited to find out Miami was one of them. Being in central Florida, Miami is only a 3 hour drive south down 95. The Formula e race series brings racing back to Miami, something that depending on who you talk to has been missed for a few years. When the tickets were finally released for the Miami formula e race Josh and I were trying to figure out which seats we should get. Because it is an all day event, and the fact that despite living in Florida Josh and I rarely go out in the sun for more than an hour or two at a time we decided to go with the sky-box seats. I convinced him using the argument that there would be shade and “free” food. Well 3 days ago we received an e-mail from formula e hospitality that the tickets we booked have been changed and are now going to be American Airlines Arena Suites tickets. Technically it said “upgraded” but from the new map it looks like they did away with the original plan for the sky box and have really just switched the location. Either way it is an indoor/outdoor space that is catered and will have good views and shade. Hopefully it will be worth it because I had to trade in my yearly vacation for a 3 day 2 night trip to Miami to include these fancy tickets and an outrageously expensive hotel. Bye Bye dream summer in some foreign country! Plus gates open at 7 am so its not like I will be sleeping in either. For those of you who are going to make it down make sure to look for us! I will be the dork with the go-pro on a selfie stick trying to capture every moment in the sky box with all the fancy people! See you there!

-Brenna

Local EV Event

FIT Homecoming Parade Fun!

November 10, 2014 Space Coast EV Drivers Team

On Saturday Oct 26th we had six electric vehicles in the FIT homecoming parade. We had a great spot up near the front and after a special request we were put in front of the MG club so we didn’t have to “breathe their fumes”! We realized about two minutes into it that it was going slow enough where two people could have walked in front of our line of cars with our banner. It’s too bad we had already hung up the banner at our tent in the tailgating area at the end of the parade first thing that morning. But now we know!

Five of Six EVs lined up for the car show. — EV Car Show

After the parade we parked our cars next to each other in a line near our tent and table as usual. We had about 20-30 people come up to ask questions, sit in, and look at our cars. As usual most of the people learned the facts and challenged what they thought they knew about EVs. Some of the attendees let us know they would now consider buying one! Education and proliferation of EVs are two of the main reasons why we do these events so we call this one a success.

Chevy Volt operating cost numbers — EV Driving facts and numbers

Here’s some pictures from the event and we are looking forward to the next events in November so we can show our EVs to even more people in the community and answer their questions with our real-world experience from driving these electric cars every day.

EV related Blog Post

EV Charging at Epcot

August 21, 2014 Space Coast EV Drivers Team

After hearing that Epcot installed two dual Level 2 EV charging stations the SCEV Drivers, being a short hour and twenty minute drive away, decided we needed to head over and check them out.

So last Sunday afternoon we loaded up and took the Chevy Volt over to Orlando, FL to Disney’s Epcot center to test the brand new chargers. Over the past few months there has been a growing number of people contacting WDW pushing for the installation of chargers. Josh and Brenna had tweeted and e-mailed on a few occasions letting them know that they needed to catch up with their California counterpart and get some charging stations installed. We mentioned we were not going to visit the happiest place on earth until they installed some charging stations. Being people of our word as soon as we plugged up we headed over to the guest services counter and purchased two seasonal passes. We let them know that the reason we purchased them was a direct result of the installation of these chargers. This serves as a very good example on how installing charging stations can attract new business.

Details about the charging stations:
They are installed at the very front of the Epcot center parking lot near the monorail station located near the handicapped rows. Unfortunately you still have to pay the $17 to park like normal (unless you have annual passes) in addition to the cost to charge. When headed in they will try to direct you down a row before you get to the spaces. You will have to tell the parking attendant that you drive an EV and need to use the charging station and they will let you pass them. You have to turn down the row before the station and take it all the way up and around to get to the stations due to the one way set up. Once you arrive you will see two, dual J1772 level 2 stations from ChargePoint serving the first four parking spaces with 4 total J1772 plugs.

Charge Point price details on Epcot 1 — Price Details on Epcot 1

They charge 35 cents per kWh with a minimum of $1.50 but there’s no limit to how long you can park there. We parked, plugged in, and swiped the ChargePoint card and were on our way. We arrived at 5:30 pm and left after the park closed. It is nice to be able to park there, take a bus or monorail to all the other parks and come back to a fully charged EV.

A full charge on the Volt will cost about $4.50 making it a bit expensive but worth it for the up front parking and not having to use as much gasoline as it would without the charge. Disney World is about 80 miles from home so we were able to go 40 miles there on electric power from home, then use about a gallon of gas to get there. We left with a full battery so we got 40 miles back on electric power from Disney then another gallon of gas to get home. So we spent about $5.75 on electricity and only 2 gallons of gas for the whole trip.

Thanks for the charge, Disney!

EV News, Local EV Event

July’s EV Event Recap

July 15, 2014 Space Coast EV Drivers Team

July’s EV Event Recap

Seven drivers of electric vehicles pose for a photo around a table at Panera Bread — Members of SCEV Drivers pose for a photo at the July EV meet up while at Panera Bread in Palm Bay, FL

Each month the Space Coast Electric Vehicle drivers host an informal Electric Vehicle drivers meet up at Brevard County area establishments located within walking distance of a public charging station. These events usually take place the first Sunday of each month, with the exception of months with holidays falling on or close to the date (such as July 4th). For those who couldn’t make it we post an event recap for each month to keep you all up to date!

This past Sunday we held our July EV Event at the Panera Bread in Palm Bay, FL’s Hammock Landing shopping area.

Two Chevy Volt parked in an EV designated spot at Kohl's in Palm Bay, FL — Two Chevy Volt’s parked in EV designated spots at Kohl’s in Palm Bay, FL

The Kohl’s, which is walking distance to Panera has two designated EV parking spaces with a single J1772 Level 2 charger and a 110V outlet. Unfortunately the charger was giving some of our members a hard time and it took quite a while to switch it from one car to another. Luckily one of our members who frequents this charger gave it a little tough love and solved the problem.

We welcomed one new local member with a Chevy Volt and had the pleasure of meeting Al Lococo and his wife, of the Central Florida and Sun Coast EAA who drove their Toyota RAV 4 EV all the way from Winter Haven, FL to attend July’s EV event.

A Toyota RAV4 EV parked in front of Panera — A Toyota RAV 4 EV from Winter Haven, FL attends the July SCEV Drivers meet up.

If you are counting rare EVs in central Florida this is the second 2nd generation RAV 4 EV to attend a Space Coast Electric Vehicle Drivers meet up. Pretty impressive when you consider they were never sold in the state of Florida, Toyota has only sold 1,594 of the 2,600 2nd generation RAV4 EVs produced and Toyota has announced they will not be producing any more of these SUVs in favor of other technologies.

Chevy Volt parked in an EV designated spot at Kohl’s in Palm Bay, FL

At the meet up we discussed efforts to place more local charging stations in and around Brevard, Melbourne BMW’s new dual level 2 dealership charger as well as handy, printable window displays for your EV. Brenna discussed the early development stages of an official SCEV Drivers logo for the use on future signage, business cards, t-shirts and more. Brenna and Josh gave an overview of progress for Melbourne’s National Drive Electric Week (NDEW) event which will take place September 20th 2014. Please make sure to register to attend or volunteer at the NDEW event! But one of the highlights of the afternoon was that event attendees were able to take home copies of Al’s book Turning Point in History an “exploration into the subject of Energy and Transportation and how they affect our lives, our economy, our politics and our future.”

Overall it was a great meet up and we are looking forward to next month! The next meet up will take place on Sunday August 3rd from 2-4 PM in Downtown Melbourne. We will be meeting and parking at The Mansion located at 1218 E New Haven Ave Melbourne, FL 32901. Those with a L3 compatible car that need a charge are welcome to park at the charger at City Hall which is just a short 7 minute walk (.3 miles)

We look forward to seeing you there and thanks for supporting the Space Coast EV Drivers!

Local EV Event

Sunday July 13th Monthy SCEV Drivers Meet Up

June 4, 2014 Space Coast EV Drivers Team

It is meet up time!

To better show local areas that we appreciate the installation of chargers (EVSE) as well as to show off numerous electric vehicles at one time and place we will be rotating our meetings between the three current charging stations located within walking distance to food, fun, and shopping. These include the downtown Melbourne L3 charger at City Hall, the Eau Gallie library L2 charger and the Kohl’s L2 charging station in Palm Bay at Hammock Landing.

Kohl's EV Charging Sign — Kohl’s EV Charging Sign

For July’s event we will meet in Palm Bay at the Kohl’s L2 charger, pictured above, and walk over to Panera Bread for a late lunch, coffee, tea, or just some great EV Talk. All Electric Vehicle drivers are welcome as well as those wanting to learn more about purchasing an EV from local driver/owners. While these events are normally on the first Sunday of each month, we decided to switch July’s event to the second Sunday due to the holiday. We are looking forward to seeing you there! Comment below to let us know you are going to be there or Let us know you are coming on Facebook.

When: Sunday July 13th 2-4 PM

Where: The L2 Charger located in front of Kohl’s at 205 Palm Bay Rd NE Melbourne, FL 32904 (the shopping complex is located to the west of I-95 off of Palm Bay Rd)

Local EV Event

First Monthly Electric Vehicle Meetup

May 5, 2014 Space Coast EV Drivers Team

Men standing next to their electric vehicles — SCEV Drivers with their cars

SCEV driver members sitting in their cars — SCEV Drivers at the L3 charger

First, we would like to thank everyone who made it to the first Space Coast Electric Vehicle Drivers monthly meet up. It was a perfect day to park our cars at the level 3 charger in downtown Melbourne, Fl and walk over to Meg O’Malleys for a late lunch.

We love the idea that the cars are parked together and are easy to view so people walking by can see electric vehicles of all types in their town. It is a great way to show the town we are here, we are using the newly installed infrastructure, and we will make a point to gather in locations that add electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) such as the new CHAdeMO charging station. (Especially when they are located in truly convenient areas of town with easy access to amenities.)

So now we are sure you are asking yourself “what did I miss?” As if the opportunity to dine on some of Melbourne’s most delicious French onion soup wasn’t enough here are the details. We spent the time discussing our cars, talking about upcoming events, discussing outreach opportunities, what we all do for work, how good the crab cake appetizer is, how we ended up in Melbourne, strange or fun experiences you have had interacting with the public in regards to your electric vehicle, how good this half a rack of ribs is, lots of talk about flying planes (commercial and private), and much, much more.

Couldn’t make it this month? No problem, there is always next month. So save the date for the first Sunday in June which happens to be June 1st at Squid Lips in Melbourne. Be sure to check the website. We look forward to seeing you at the next meet up.

Local EV Event

Our First Electric Vehicle Event in Melbourne, FL

Image April 11, 2014 SpaceCoast

A Chevy Volt Electric Vehicle Rear of the car and licence plate that reads 101 MPG — Voltron the Volt

Hi All!

We know you have been waiting to see where our first community event would be so you can come check out Voltron the Red Chevy Volt! Our “no compromise electric vehicle.” We are happy to announce the wait is over!

This Saturday April 12th 2014 we will be at the Brevard Zoo’s Party for the Planet from 10 AM to 3 PM. Look for our tent, banner, and the red Chevy Volt to be parked directly across from the entrance to the Zoo. We can not wait to see you there.

For more info about the Brevard Zoo’s Party for the Planet event please check out their websites Special Events Page. The Zoo is located at 8825 North Wickham Road, Melbourne, FL 32940

July’s EV Event Recap

It's Electric!