EV1 debut in SF

[Russell Levine <cowtown@JPS.NET>]

Hi Listees -

     I went to the EV1 debut at Treasure Island today, and not only did
they keep most of the presentation succinct, but they even supplied food
and drink! Hizzoner Willie Brown made it just before the ceremonial
ride-around-the-block (actually the whole island), so no long-winded speech
from politicos, but it was the first I had heard about SF officials having
EV1s to use around town...and Willie did admit they really lose something
on those hills!
     The highlight of my son's day was talking to the mayor of San
Francisco, then riding alone with an "EV specialist", followed by riding
with me! I was surprised they didn't have a problem with this
"unchaperoned" trip, but we let 'er rip on every block, and despite wet
roads (and my almost-purposely setting off the "traction loss" indicator by
running through some puddles), we did get something less than 9 seconds for
one 0-to-60 run...my 8-year-old exaggerated that his feet were coming off
the floor! While GM can't say they are marketing the first EV, they _can_
say they are offering the first high performance electric sports car!
     The list of to-be-opened charging stations is growing, with the
nearest a Costco 25 miles away; the rep from Sun Valley mall said they will
have both inductive and conductive charging there (Concord), but we'll have
to wait until the Calstart site gets them all listed to know who will have
what (we've got to convince them that the EV1 is in the minority when it
comes to freeway-legal EVs in need of opportunity charges.
     I still think the EV+ will be more usable, but since we are currently
leasing a RAV4, I'll try to hold out my EV urges with home-built DC power
until I can lease Toyota's electrified version of our present ride. My 98
Tacoma, however, would be hard to replace (with these big lease payments, I
could have had a couple EV1s!).

Well, I hope no-one thinks I've wasted bandwidth.

Russell L
EV1 debut in SF