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[mattmccutchen]

National Plug In Day is this weekend, September 28-29; events will be held at various places and times across the US.  (Should it be called National Plug In Weekend?  Go figure.)  If you like to hang out with other EV enthusiasts, this is for you.  Terry Hershner and I will be at the rally in Cupertino, CA.  The organizers of that rally asked me to help recruit more e-motorcyclists, hence the post here; the same would probably apply to any of the events.

[benswing]

I'm going to the NPID event in Long Island on Saturday and the North Jersey event at the Liberty Science Center with 12 charging stations powered by their massive solar array! 

Have a great plugin day!

[protomech]

I'm heading to the Nashville plugin event. I've been zipping around the Nashville area dropping cards on EVs that I see parked .. hopefully we'll have a couple dozen vehicles : )

[Richard230]

I'll be at the Cupertino event, too. Probably around 10 am.  But I'll be riding my Triumph as Cupertino is just too far away to ride to from Pacifica and still have enough charge to get home.  When I was there last year (on my BMW), there were plenty of EVs getting recharged by Level 2 dealer charging facilities, but I never saw any free 120V outlets that seemed to be available to the general public.  So I'll have to depend upon a couple of gallons of gasoline to get there and back.  At least the weather will be beautiful, just like last year.   

[mattmccutchen]

Richard, of course I and the organizers would rather have you bring your Zero, and I'm willing to go to some trouble to make that happen.  You can use my J1772 adapter, splitter, and external charger to get a double-speed charge.  I'll be at the rally 10:00-1:30, then I have to leave for an appointment; if you need to charge longer than that (supposedly a full double-speed charge for ZF9 is 4.5 hours), I can come back to pick up the equipment later.

[ashnazg]

The Tennessee Valley EV Drivers group is hosting the Plugin Day in Huntsville AL, at the Solar Demonstration Park, on Sunday 29th.

[Richard230]

Hi Matt.  You convinced me.  Even though my Triumph needs some miles put on it  , I'll ride my Zero to the show (after stopping by the Mountain View BMW dealer at 9 am for coffee, donuts and some electricity  ) and I should arrive at the show shortly after 10 am via the Foothill Expressway.  Your electron donation will be enough to get me home if I take the freeway frontage roads.  I plan to leave around 1:30, too.

I told my daughter that she should take the kids to the Marin Plug-in Day display at the Marin Civic Center parking lot on Sunday morning.

[protomech]

ashnazg - say hi to Josh for me : )

[ashnazg]

ashnazg - say hi to Josh for me : )

If I'm able to go, will do.  Still wish I had a means to take my Leaf *and* XU up to Huntsville for these meetups.

[protomech]

Wonder if the XU could fit in the LEAF .. sort of like the Batbike in the Tumbler ..

[ashnazg]

Wonder if the XU could fit in the LEAF .. sort of like the Batbike in the Tumbler ..

Well, what's sort of funny here (and demonstrates my inexperience in these matters) is that I found a custom "sort-of-towing" package for my Leaf, which I thought should be good enough to put a moto carrier on, particularly since the XU is so "light".  However, I have to presume that the "max tongue weight of 90 lbs" spec on my kit would not actually accommodate a moto carrier and the XU.  Further, no one that I'd think could speak knowledgeably on it will tell me that the same kit could manage a small trailer just large enough to hold the XU.  Part of my brain keeps insisting that "tongue weight" as measured against a trailer like that is *not* actually "the full combined weight of trailer and contents".

So I have to stick with just writing software :-P

[protomech]

These hitches are rated for 200 pounds tongue weight, 2000 pounds weight carrying.
http://shop.tlcentral.com/store/pc/2011+-Nissan-Leaf-2-Stealth-Trailer-Hitch-p1067.htm

Seems like it'd be a 'tow at your own risk' deal for sure .. but it probably would handle a light motorcycle carrier.

[CliC]

Even the "light" hitch mount MC carriers are 40 or 50 pounds. You'd be pushing it on a Class 1 or Class 2 hitch, even with an XU.

[protomech]

Yeah, you wouldn't want to use a hitch carrier for sure, even if you pulled off the battery. Just seems like a small trailer would work okay. You'd want to make sure the hitch has loops to attach the trailer chains.

According to Uhaul, tongue weight is typically 10 to 15% of the trailer weight, if the weight distribution on the trailer is correct.
http://www.uhaul.com/Trailers/HitchGlossary/#tongueweight

[vitaminC]

Saw this just in time! I will try to make it out to Cupertino tomorrow via either my ICE bike or car. Still haven't pulled the trigger on the Zero.