Javier Verdura, Director, Product Design at Tesla

On July 21, 2017 we were pleased to host Javier Verdura, Director, Product Design at Tesla. He provided an informative presentation on Tesla, the future of energy and mobility and covered a wide gamut of Tesla topics, as well as responding to a number of questions. The event took place at the conference center at the beautiful Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando.

This event had the highest attendance of any event in the club’s more than 5-year history with about 130 members, guests and Tesla representatives in attendance. Admission was free. 

We had about 130 members, guests and Tesla representatives in attendance. 

For those wishing to spend the night or the weekend at Universal, we arranged for group rates at both Loews Royal Pacific and Loews Sapphire Falls Resorts, both on Universal grounds and walking distance from the conference center.

Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando

Hosting a Tesla executive is a very exciting and long-awaited club event. This type of event ranked number one on our Event Preference Survey. We were particularly fortunate and appreciative to have someone with Javier’s stature to fly out here from California to spend time with us.

Javier belongs to the inner circle of the elite design team at Tesla and meets regularly with Elon Musk to brief him on design developments. He reports directly to Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s Chief Designer.

In his career of over 25 years, Javier has been recognized by winning the design industry’s most prestigious awards and his name appears on more than 130 patents. Since joining Tesla, he has been involved in a variety of projects, from vehicle components, to the design of the Superchargers, and most recently he’s led the design of Tesla’s ground breaking Solar Roof and Powerwall.

Following Javier’s informative presentation, Jillian Percella, Tesla’s regional Marketing Manager, and I read some questions forwarded in advance for Javier and he took additional questions from the audience.

Jillian Percella, Tesla Regional Marketing Manager; Larry Chanin, President Florida Tesla Enthusiasts & Javier Verdura, Tesla Director, Product Design

After the Q&A session we had an informal Club Chat with Tesla. During the chat we had club member experts along with Tesla representatives taking questions. To lubricate the chat, we had a free beer and wine bar during this segment of the program.

Club members Nick Howe & Matt Pressman; Tesla reps; Bill Madden, District General Manager, Gus Cobeaga, Regional Service Manager and Eric Fields, Orlando Store Manager

Participating in the chat was club member Matt Pressman. Matt is co-founder and president of EVANNEX, a family business specializing in aftermarket Tesla accessories. Matt is a prolific reporter of Tesla news and writes for Teslarati, CleanTechnica and InsideEVs. You can follow his work on the EVANNEX Blog.

Club member Nick Howe was also on the Chat. Nick is the Vice President, of Florida Tesla Enthusiasts. He is the author of “Owning Model S”, and is well known in the Tesla community. Nick produces the popular “News from the Frunk” YouTube video channel which has over 3500 subscribers.

The cocktail reception facilitated informal chats between Tesla representative and club members.

Club members Nick Howe & Matt Pressman, along with Tesla reps Gus Cobeaga and Eric Fields chat with attendees.

Javier Vendura, on left, chats with attendees during the cocktail reception.

Tesla sent a large contingent of representatives to assist. Here are most of them. 

Participating from Tesla on the Chat were Bill Madden, District General Manager, North Florida, Gus Cobeaga, Regional Service Manager, Florida, and Eric Fields, Store Manager – Tesla Orlando.

Following the Club Chat we had a cocktail reception with a cash bar and hors d’oeuvres. During the reception the Tesla participants were available for additional conversations. In addition, the following Tesla representative were also in attendance to chat with attendees:

 Cinthya Chavez, Store Manager – Tesla Sarasota

 Ron Vyas, Store Manager – Tesla International Plaza

 Ryan Youngquist, Store Manager – Tesla Jacksonville

 Yolie Brito, Store Manager – Tesla Naples

 Morgan Derner, Associate Store Manager – Tesla International Plaza

 Kamin Atchley, Assistant Service Manager – Tesla Orlando

 Mark Willard, Owner Advisor – Tesla Nashville

 Adam Cain, Owner Advisor – Tesla Orlando

 Jerad Grimes, Owner Advisor – Tesla Jacksonville

 Keena Blum, Customer Experience Specialist – Tesla Orlando

 Troy Johnson, Customer Experience Specialist – Tesla Orlando

Larry Chanin
President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts
Email: lfchanin@gmail.com