On February 22, 2020, we had a great time at Brio Tuscan Grille at Waterside Shops in Naples, as Austin Knight, Manager at Tesla Waterside, and Estero updated us on all things Tesla.  Twenty-four members of Florida Tesla Enthusiasts and their guest gathered to hear about the upcoming rollouts, new software, solar information, and thoughts about factors that may impact the company.  There were lots of questions from the audience and a great chance to meet other Tesla owners in the area.  We want to thank Amy Turner for organizing this informative event and Austin Knight for the fabulous presentation.

Here's some photos:

Austin Knight, Manager of the Waterside and Estero Tesla stores provides an informative presentation.

 

If you are interested in learning about our club, please click on the "Home" link at the top of this page. If you are interested in joining our club, please click on the "Join Us" link at the top of this page.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

On February 22, 2020, over 40 attendees gathered for an informal "ribbon-cutting" ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Clearwater Supercharger at the Wawa located on US Highway 19 N. Darlene Harris, General Manager of the Wawa was a gracious host. She made sure that all of the attendees were welcomed and had a coupon for a free hot beverage.

The Tesla Parking signage hadn't arrived yet, and Darlene indicated that they were on backorder and would be installed as soon as they were available. 

The event was an excellent opportunity to celebrate not only the opening of the first version 3 supercharger in Tampa Bay but also for members of the local Tesla community to gather and share stories about their Tesla experiences. There were both local attendees as well as folks from Brazil and Quebec. Members from the Tesla Charging Infrastructure Team and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy also joined us.

Following the opening ceremony, about 30 people attended our meetup and lunch at Ford's Garage, and everyone had a great time. The food was delicious, and the irony of hosting a Tesla meetup at that location wasn't lost on anyone!

We want to thank our Event Coordinator, Paul Klink, for coordinating this event, Rachelle Stone, our Event Consultant, for assisting in arranging for our group photo, and Dory Larsen, Electric Vehicle Program Coordinator with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy for promoting this event.  Last, but not least, we would like to thank Darlene Harris for the hospitality and Wawa for hosting this Supercharger Station.

Here are some photos:

For the geeks among us, here are the specs for a version 3 Supercharger cabinet. 

If you are interested in learning about our club, please click on the "Home" link at the top of this page. If you are interested in joining our club, please click on the "Join Us" link at the top of this page.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

On February 8 through 15, 2020, for this Members-Only event, 19 of our members and their guests signed up for a 7-day Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the beautiful Sky Princess, the newest ship in the Princess fleet. I want to thank Erol Brenes for organizing this exciting and romantic adventure, especially on Valentine’s Day. There was plenty of camaraderie, and of course lots of excellent food and drink as well. We stopped at the following ports of call: Princess Cays, Bahamas; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; and St. Maarten.

We had such a good time that even before leaving the ship, we booked another cruise in 2021 also for Valentine’s Day aboard another brand new ship, the Enchanted Princess.  This time we will be cruising the Western Caribbean. Club members can click here to join us and sign up for next year’s cruise. If you are interested, please sign up right away, since there's a great promotion that expires on February 29, 2020.

If you’re not a member, but would like to join us, click here.

Here’s an assortment of photos:

Our friends George & Amy joined Mary Ellen and me in driving down to Port Everglades in our Model S. Embarkation was very fast due to the electronic Medallions mailed to us. Here we are being photo-bombed by an animated turtle just prior to boarding.

After boarding it was time for some libations at Vines!  The first two drinks were free!

George, Judy, Mary Ellen, Jim, Tom and George.

Amy and Erol.

Bill, George, Mary Ellen, Jim, Tom and Beverly.

Bill, George, Amy, Ken, Mary Ellen, Jim, Barbara, Tom, Sandy, Larry, Beverly George and Judy.

Day Three was formal night, time for some selfies. Larry, Mary Ellen, Amy, George, Susan and Erol.

Our lovely ladies on formal night. Beverly, Sandy, Barbara, Kate, Erol, Amy, Susan, Marty, Judy and Mary Ellen.

Sandy and Erol discovered what Santa does in off-season.

Susan & Peter

Ken and Mary Ellen.

Ken, Kate and Bill.

Erol and Amy.

George and Mary Ellen.

We booked enough staterooms to qualify for free dining at the Crown Grille specialty steakhouse.

On Day Four many of us booked "The Legendary Kon Tiki Harbor and Beach Cruise."  This converted barge is a glass-bottom boat and floating bar with unlimited rum punch and a live steel band.  Needless to say, it's a "booze cruise!"  The photos below convey that many of us were feeling no pain, ...until later.

Kon Tiki patron?

The next formal night.

Amy, Erol, Barbara and Mary Ellen.

Okay, how many club members can fit in a mini-suite if you drink a lot?

Beverly and Tom.

Erol and her peeps, closing down the Vista Lounge.

If you are interested in learning about our club, please click on the "Home" link at the top of this page. If you are interested in joining our club, please click on the "Join Us" link at the top of this page.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

Please scroll down for updates.

A member of the Tesla Motors Club forum discovered a permit application for what looks to be the “Coming Soon” Clearwater Supercharger as listed on Tesla’s Find Us map. The permit was issued on October 9, 2019.

The site address is 26508 US Highway 19 North, which appears to be a Wawa convenience store and gas station.

Here is a vicinity map:

You will notice from the excerpt of the permit application reproducted above, that the project description is:

Installation of Tesla Charging Station within existing parking lot consisting of (2) TESLA V3 SUPERCHARGER CABINETS, (8) TESLA V3 CHARGE POSTS, (1) MASTER CONTROLLER, (1) SWITCHGEAR ASSEMBLY, and (1) UTILITY TRANSFORMER. Two concrete pads will be poured for equipment. 

So it appears that this will be a Version 3.0 Supercharger. Version 3.0 Supercharger Cabinets are rated 1 MW each and will power four Supercharger terminals at up to 250 kW each.

Update as of November 5, 2019.

Construction has started on the Clearwater Supercharger Station.

Tesla certified contractor is on the case.

Update as of November 9, 2019.

Conduits being installed

Update as of November 12, 2019.

Some of the charging terminal under construction.

More progress on the conduit installation.

Update as of November 14, 2019.

More progress on charging terminals.

Waiting on version 3 Supercharger Cabinets.

This is where the utility transformer will go.

Update as of January 23, 2020.

The utility transformer has been installed.

Update as of February 3, 2020.

The version 3 Supercharger cabinets have been delivered to the site.

The version 3 Supercharger charging terminals have been delivered to the site.

Here's a good view of a version 3 Supercharger cabinet.

 

The meter cabinet is installed, but the all important meter is missing. In the front is the main breaker with two version 3 Supercharger cabinets in the back.

We believe that all of the version 3 charging terminals have been installed behind the coverings. There's some signage that needs to be installed, but this installation is very close to being energized.  Rumors speculate that we are only a couple of days away. 

Update as of February 17, 2020.

Although it doesn't yet show on the navigation display or the Tesla Find Us map, the Clearwater Supercharger Station is operational.  Signage still remains to be installed.  Parking bumpers would also be helpful.

On February 22nd we will be having a meetup and lunch to celebrate the opening.  This event is open to the public, but we request that you register on our website so we can obtain a headcount for the restaurant.

If you are interested in attending click on the link below to register:

Join Florida Tesla Enthuiasts to Celebrate the opening of the Clearwater version 3 Supercharger

People living nearby are encouraged to visit the site periodically to take high resolution photos of the construction progress, and forward them to me. 

Thanks.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

Email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

The Seaside Institute™, in conjunction with the Congress for New Urbanism, hosted a Transportation Expo at the Central Square at Seaside. The Panhandle Region of Florida Tesla Enthusiasts was invited to participate. The February 6, 7, an 8th event consisted of a Transportation Workshop with international and national subject matter experts discussing transit impact issues, a Vendor Expo and Demonstration displaying alternative forms of transportation, and a Luxury Car Club Display featuring Tesla, Porsche, and Mercedes Benz luxury cars and their owners.

Several members of our club’s  Panhandle Region attended the event on Saturday to show their cars and provide information to visitors to the expo about electric vehicles. Also, two members from the Jacksonville Showroom brought a Model X and Model S to the show. A total of 6 Teslas were on display garnering much attention along with 28 Porsches and about 5 Mercedes.

The beautiful weather helped to make the event successful, and the team at The Seaside Institute hopes to make it an annual event.

Here's some photos:

If you are interested in learning about our club, please click on the "Home" link at the top of this page. If you are interested in joining our club, please click on the "Join Us" link at the top of this page.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

On February 8, 2020, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts were invited to attend the first annual EVs and Tea event held in Miami.  The event was an enormous success having a large number of Tesla's as well as two discussion panels. YouTube content creators were present: Eli Burton (My Tesla Adventure, STARMAN), Kyle Conner (Out of Spec Motoring YouTube channel), Trevor Page (Tesla Owners Online), Anuarbek Imanbaev (Tesla Geeks), Rafael Santoni (TesLatino YouTube channel), Michael Bodner (Teslatunity YouTube channel).

There was a large display of customized Teslas from Signature Customs. Audi and Jaguar brought their electric cars to showcase. Tesla also had representatives present with display Teslas to show and answer questions from the public.

Renzo Torrenga, our Event Coordinator for the Broward County area, was interviewed by David Sutta with CBS Miami.  Click the following link to view the video.

A Look At The Electric Car Craze

Roger Pressman, owner of EVANNEX, (in foreground) and one of the hosts of this event, participates in a panel discussion. Roger is a long-time club member.

If you are interested in learning about our club, please click on the "Home" link at the top of this page. If you are interested in joining our club, please click on the "Join Us" link at the top of this page.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

We estimate that close to 100 customer Teslas were at the Tesla Owners event

On Saturday, February 1, 2020, the Tampa Delivery Center on Florida Avenue hosted an Owners Event and asked our club to participate. Tesla sent out about 700 invitations to mostly new owners.  Our club sent out an additional 300 invitations to our members in our Southwest Region on Tesla's behalf.  The intent was for new owners to be able to network with experienced owners to get a better idea of the owner experience in an informal setting.

We estimate that over 200 people were in attendance.

Tesla was an excellent host and the Delivery Center was able to accommodate the large crowd and about 100 customer Teslas. They had an informative and fun agenda:

• Solar booth – bring your utility bill for review
• Service booth – submit your questions
• Test drives – Refer your friends and family for Supercharging miles!
• Merchandise booth – gear up on Tesla merchandise
• Food trucks – American cuisine and Italian ice
• Tesla Trivia – with prizes! Brush up on Tesla knowledge!

Here are some photos of the festivities:

Please scroll down to the bottom of this article for the most current information.

One of our club members, thanks Ray, discovered the location of the "Coming Soon" Supercharger Station for Coral Gables as listed on Tesla's Find Us map.  Technically it's in Miami about 1.5 miles from Coral Gables. It's located at a Wawa convenience store and gas station at 6971 SW 24th St, Miami, FL 33155.

Here's a vicinity map.  You'll notice that its not too far from the Tesla Coral Gables Service Center and the Miami - Dadeland Tesla Store.

For a full-sized image of the map, right click on it and open it in a new tab.

Here's a photo of the charging terminals under construction. There are a total of eight. They have a separate Coral Way entrance and exit from the rest of the store and they are located so as to minimize any chance of unintentional Icing.

We haven't yet been able to locate the permit to get a better idea of whether or not this will be a version 3 Supercharger installation.

Update as of October 23, 2019.

Above is the main switchgear. 

This appears to be the location were Tesla would set its Supercharger Cabinets. Unless there is another concrete pad with more conduits, it looks like that there are only two Supercharger Cabinets for 8 charging terminals. If true, that would suggest that this is a version 3 Supercharger installation.

Update as of November 8, 2019.

This photo shows the utility transformer in green to the center right.  I'm not sure if the green box to the left is also a utility transformer.  

Updated as of January 24, 2020.

Two version 3 Supercharger cabinets.

The installation manual 

It's good to see Miami-Dade on the job.

It's hard to tell, but it appears that there are two utility transformers.

Update as of January 29, 2020.

I spoke with the General Manager of the Wawa located at 6971 Coral Way, Miami, FL 33155. He informs me the this version 3 Supercharger is operational.

He also tells me that tommorrow, Thursday, January 30th, 2020 at 10:00 am, there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony for the first version 3 Supercharger in the state.

You are encouraged to attend.

Kate Elliot, Regional Manager, Charging for Tesla along with Wally the Wawa mascot and David Prevost, Director of Store Operations, Wawa, conduct ribbon-cutting ceremony and first version 3 Supercharger in Florida.

Lights on at the Supercharger!

People living nearby are encouraged to visit the site and take high resolution photos of the your Tesla charging.

Thanks.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

Email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

Please scroll down to the bottom of this article for the most current information.

On February 14 and 21, 2019 Tesla filed for a permit application for an 8-stall Supercharger Station at the existing Wawa located at 7940 West Irlo Bronson Hwy Kissimmee, FL 34747.  Interestingly this Supercharger Station is not currently shown as "Coming Soon" on the Tesla Find Us map. This will be a Version 2 Supercharger installation.

For full-sized images, right click on the image and open in a new tab.

As the vicinity map above shows, the location is near the intersection of route #429 and route #192 and located near many of the Disney World theme parks.  

The permit is on hold and is awaiting a Notice of Commencement.  It appears that the permitting authority requires a revision to the Site Development Plan before approving the building permit.

Update as of June 7, 2019.

The construction permit was issued on June 6, 2019.  We expect Tesla to break ground soon. 

Update as of September 7, 2019

Construction started in August, but little progress was made in September.  

Start of charging terminal installation.

The utility transformer and the switchgear have been installed.

Update as of December 7, 2019.

Four Supercharger Cabinets have been delivered to the site.  This confirms that it is a version 2 Supercharger installation.  The two smaller boxes appear to be autotransformers used to boost the voltage.

Update as of December 13, 2019.

The Supercharger Cabinets and autotransformers have been mounted on the concrete pad.

Update as of December 28, 2019.

The Supercharger terminals have been installed. 

Update as of Janaury 6, 2020.

The chainlink barriers have been removed and hopefully this Supercharger Station will be energized soon.

The Supercharger Station has not been energized, but everything needed for operation appears to have been installed.

Update as of January 8, 2020.

Utility meter installed.

Regarding this photo: The member of the Tesla Motors Club forum who took the picture reports, "The pedestals are lit up and holding down the button on the gun made the charge door open and then..... Nothing!"

So, we are very close to this Supercharger Station being energized, but there are still some issues that need to be resolved.

Update as of January 12, 2020.

A better view of the main disconnect switch, Supercharger cabinets as autotransformers.

Update as of January 14, 2020.

The Kissimmee Supercharger Station is operational!

Note the green status light.

Although as of today the Kissimmee Supercharger Station is not displayed on the Find Us map on Tesla's website, more importantly your car's navigation system knows that it is operational.  However, there are really 8 charging terminals, not 5 as the navigation systems shows.

There are 8 charging terminals at up to 150 kW each.

Update as of January 17, 2020.

A member of the Tesla Motors Club forum took this photo and reported that Supercharger terminals 3a and 3b were not lit up. the other six terminals were operational.  If you right click the above image and open it in a new tab you will see a full-sized image.  It shows the middle two terminals are not lit.

Much thanks to those who sent me photos of this installation.

Larry Chanin

President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

email: lfchanin@gmail.com

Website: teslaownersflorida.org

Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts

On January 11, 2020, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts (FTE) also known as Tesla Owners Florida, hosted a public Tesla meetup at the Whispering Oaks Winery in Oxford. Also attending were many members of the newly formed local club, The Villages Tesla Owners Group, as well as the public.  We estimate that over 100 people attended and that there were more than 60 Teslas.

Angelia Link, the organizer of this very successful event, is a resident of The Villages and is one of three Event Coordinators for FTE in the club’s Central Region. The Central Region has over 150 active members. Throughout the state FTE has more than 750 members in five regions. It is the only statewide Tesla club officially recognized by Tesla.

Event Coordinator Angelia Link from The Villages on the right.  Assisting with our events is our Event Consultant Rachelle Stone on the left.

Angelia, being a multi-tasker, also volunteered to organize a local group for Tesla owners living in The Villages. If you are an FTE member, living in The Villages, I encourage you to join the local group.  Likewise, if you are a member of the local group, we encourage you to join our statewide club.  Cross pollination is a good thing. (Refer to the links above.)

Angelia put together an ambitious but well-organized program.

It included:

All-in-all it was a blast!

About Whispering Oaks Winery

Whispering Oaks Winery is located on a large farm in the rolling countryside less than 10 miles west of The Villages in Oxford.  They have 40,000 blueberry bushes on the farm and naturally they specialize in producing blueberry wines.

I want to commend the winery for having installed eight Tesla Connectors as destination chargers. So, if you own a Tesla, the winery’s location is programmed into your navigation system.   

They offer winery tours, wine tastings and have live entertainment every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, a steak dinner is served outdoors on their patio next to their open wood grill and Koi pond.

As in our case, they cater private parties at their separate pavilion and bar.

Here are some more photos: 

(To view a full-size image of any photo in this article, right click on the image and open it in a new tab.)

Working the registration desk to keep things organized.

As an official sanctioned member of Tesla's Owners Club Program, our club has signed a licensing agreement with Tesla to legally use selected trademarked branding such as the top logo.

Teslas as far as the eye can see!

Here I am with my classic Roadster.

Just kidding, here is the Real owner, Thi. 

Have you ever heard of a V8 EV?  Well, here it is.

 Whispering Oak Winery  installed 8 Tesla Connectors for charging Tesla vehicles.

With so many Teslas converging on this location in the country, having multiple Tesla Connectors came in handy.

Winery tour by the owner Darryl Siemer.

Live entertainment.

Chris Knowles, Tesla Energy Advisor, providing a presentation regarding Tesla Solar.

The next series of photos of smiling faces were taken at our private lunch in the pavilion.

Event Coordinator Angelia Link addressing the group.

You gotta start them young. ;-)

The next series of photos are of the winners of the door prizes.

Okay, if you are not a member of our club and you had the patience to scroll all the way down this far past all those photos, I feel your pain.  I know it must be like being forced to view your friends photos of their vacation.  :-(

But, you have to admit that it sure looks like they all had a good time!  So, if you've gotten this far, why not go one step further and go to the top of the page and click on the "Join Us" link so your smiling face can be included in the next article. 

Regards,

Larry Chanin President, Florida Tesla Enthusiasts Website: teslaownersflorida.org Facebook: Florida Tesla Enthusiasts