EV Mobility in Arruda dos Vinhos

This post could look like one of John Oliver's Last Week Tonight episodes. It isn't but, just like in Oliver's case, it's about a last week event: the Tesla-Aficionado's performance at the beautiful Garden Room (Sala Jardim) at the Morgado Cultural Center in Arruda dos Vinhos. In celebration of the European Mobility Week, the Aficionado was invited to give a talk on the advantages of going electric and about his/our experience while transitioning from one mobility paradigm to a new one. From the screen the electric-mobility-Geek showed (based on our TV moment, you can check it here), you can see I played no mean part in the whole scenario (and scenario is quite the apt word).

It was a really great evening and I was positively surprised at the interest this subject seems to be raising. Lots of questions from the audience left us in convivial discussion and, before we knew it, it was well past midnight.
I would like to thank Arruda's Municipality for organizing this get-together and for the warm welcome: our Mayor André Rijo, the City Council Representative Mário Anágua, the Cultural Planning Coordinator Ana Correia and all those involved in the organization and promotion of this event. Last but not least, our thank you to all the people who gave their time and shared their interest by joining us on a fine September evening.

Day 2: Test driving the Model X

I thought it was going to be just five minutes for a couple of pictures at the Houston-North Tesla store where we had been last last year, right? Wrong! Turned out the store opened some minutes after we arrived at the scene. Turned out the nice, wonderful Susan MacHenry was there and remembered us (I mean, how often to you get to meet a Tesla-obsessed geek from Portugal?). Turned out she proposed test driving the Model X. You don't have to say that twice to the Tesla-obsessed geek from Portugal!

Before I knew it, I was standing under the (in)famous falcon wings of the Model X (boy, are they huge!) and the Tesla-obsessed geek from Portugal was in for a joyride! O joy!

To find out more about what's it like to cruise a Model X (and have the tech lingo to go along), please visit here, and here. I'm just the Tesla-wife not the Tesla-geeky-expert.

When EV-sales came to visit

What's so great about Tesla-moments is that we get to meet tons of amiable, like-minded people we wouldn't otherwise.
A few days ago, EV-sales blog mastermind and all things EV enthusiast, Zé Pontes, came to visit us. His is the top 1 EV blog in the world, mind you! Not only was he well accompanied by lovely wife, Dulce, he also brought us a bountiful supply of magazines on everything EV and electric-related: PlugIn, ReNew, you name it.

With so much to read, I can fairly say my education as a Tesla-wife is a consistent work-in-progress with no end in sight. Luckily, I have just the best teachers to learn from.

Come again anytime soon!

We're on EV-Sales and I'm Penny

Well, hello, hello dear 2016! And what good news thou bringst! My, o my!
Being referenced by EV-Sales (just THE blog about evs) is quite a treat: thank you to the über ev fan and fellow countryman over there!
And as it seems, I'm kinda the Big Bang Theory Penny lost amidst the geek, nerdy gang. Yeah, I do sometimes feel like Penny: both blonde, both strangely finding themselves unwantingly crashing in the world of geek and both utterly unable to escape it freewillingly. How's that for life's ironies?

I do, however, hold a PhD, which is miles away from nerdiness and all things tech. And what good does it do me as I enter the Tesla galaxy? Penny, I so do understand you. But ah, this crazy little thing called Love...

It joins even the most disparate souls.
If you want to read the bit about my Pennyness, here it is with credits to José Pontes and his blog of ev fabulousness:

Ever wondered how 0 kms Model S end up in countries where Tesla isn't officially represented, like Russia, Romania or Portugal?

Wonder no more, On the Road with Tesla follows one of these cars, in it we see a Model S buyer endeavor, from the website configuration, passing through the Tilburg delivery, to the current status of getting a number plate in Portugal. 

It will be interesting to see how it will develop, the moment it is finally allowed to go on public roads, first impressions, reliability, and for me a very interesting point will be this, how do you service a car that has no nearby service centers? Mmmm...

An important feature, https://ontheroadwithtesla.wordpress.com/ is in English.


UPDATE:

There is a mirror blog of this, also named On the Road with Tesla, but on a different server, (well) written by the wife of this Tesla-owner, documenting their sometimes strange life, like travels searching for superchargers, talking with the random Model S owner, besides other ev-like quirks.

In a way, it reminds what Penny from The Big Bang Theory would write about Sheldon Cooper, Leonard and the rest of the pack, if they were Tesla-fans...

Really interesting, even for people that aren't EV-nerds do not know what a Tesla is.