SoCal Smarties Meet- The British are Coming

Last Sunday, Dan and I experienced our first time organizing a meet-up for the SoCal Smarties. It was hard work! Rewarding, but stressful.

Dan's parents have owned two Smarts, including the first right-hand drive in Europe bought in 2002. The experience that they have had owning Smarts is a big part of the reason that we decided to try the brand. When we found out that they would be visiting us, we wanted to make sure that they could attend a meet-up and see our local Smart Car club.

We themed it to Dan's parents and used the event name, The British are Coming, which was thought up by Patti, one of the group leaders. Patti and Bob were a huge help guiding us through our first time as organizers. Thanks!

We asked Dan's parents to bring over Cadbury Chocolate, which is different from the American Cadbury Chocolate. The American version has wax in it to keep it from melting. The British version is creamy and delicious.

The night before the meet, I baked several batches of fruit scones from a recipe in Jaime Oliver's Jaime's Food Revolution cookbook. The scones were a bit of a gamble. I'd never made them before and I even tweaked some of the instructions. However, they turned out fabulous! I highly recommend this cookbook as all of the recipes as that I've tried are easy and they have turned out great. The morning of the meet, Dan and his mother made a bowl of fresh cream to pile on the scones. They seemed to be a big hit.

At ten am, we met the rest of the group in the parking lot of the Los Angeles Live Steamers Railway Museum. We spent about an hour conversing and eating the treats that we brought. It's always fun to see all of the different Smart cars. There is a lot of creativity and modifications with the cars in our group.

The LA Live Steamers is a non-profit organization that is open to the public on Sundays for rides on their 7 1/2 gauge model trains. This had nothing to do with our British theming, but we thought that it would be a fun activity for the group.

Our group was spread across the first three train rides of the day.

The owner of the train that Dan rode kindly let us attach a Go-Pro camera to the front of the train. You can see how long the track is from the footage. It's a great deal for a three dollar donation.

After riding the train, we headed over to the Walt Disney Barn, which is only open on the third Sunday of every month. The Disney Barn is an amazing place for both train and Disney fans. For Disney fans, they have big name guest stopping by the barn every month. I can't reveal who will be there, but there will be a big celebrity stopping by the barn in March. The "who" will be announced on their website in a few weeks, keep an eye out!

At noon, we embarked on our scenic drive through Griffith Park and Hollywood. Dan led a nearly hour long drive and we had many pedestrians pull out their cell phones to take pictures of our convoy. We had lots of smiles, waves and looks of disbelief as we drove towards the English Pub for lunch.

Lunch was at the Robin Hood British Pub in Sherman Oaks.

The weekend before the meet, Dan and I had lunch at the pub and spoke with the event coordinator, Jerry, about reserving a space for our large group. Jerry and the staff at Robin Hood were excellent with our group. They joined together a huge table in the dining room and even created individual checks. It was a lot of work, but our server was friendly and competent. I would not hesitate to recommend the Robin Hood British Pub for large group functions.

We enjoyed watching Dan's parents interact with the group, especially their giving advice on British menu items. Everyone was a good sport for coming out and trying new things. I took a few pictures of the Smarts in the pub parking lot.

Our first time as event planners was a success!

EV Charging Stations are NOT Parking Spaces

It's been several months since Dan began his lease on his all electric Smart car. We were already Smart Car drivers, so I was used to the polarizing effect that our cars seem to have on people. It seems like nobody is neutral. We either get smiles and compliments or hateful comments. I'm used to it and I brush it off, but it's still bizarre to me that anyone would bother being negative towards what someone else wants to drive.

The funny thing is, it doesn't seem to matter what brand of car you drive, some people absolutely hate electric or hybrid vehicles. Again, I have no idea why they are so bothered, however it seems like certain people go out of their way to be negative or to stereotype us.

This issue came up a lot of message boards and personal blogs when I began to research laws regarding electric vehicle charging stations. Some people really hate the charging stations and we learned this as soon as we tried to use them.

We primarily charge our EV at home. I've not noticed a big leap in our electric bill, so being able to skip the gas stations has definitely saved us money. Dan uses the EV for his short commute to work and even though they have recently put in EV charging stations at his office, he rarely uses them.

The first day that we had our new car, we decided to take it to the Americana in Glendale to try out their EV stations. The Americana has six chargers run by the company, Blink. The cost is about two dollars per hour, which is consistent with the price of their competitors.

The primary problem with the Americana EV stations is the lack of enforcement for non-EV's. We pulled up and managed to snag a spot, but all of the other spots were taken by non-EV's. We let the concierge know about the problem, but when we came back an hour later, the cars were still there and they had not been cited. The spots are very clearly labeled, but people still park there. We have been back to the Americana several times and the spots are nearly always filled with non-EV's.

It's frustrating.

We charged our car a few times in Downtown Burbank at a Charge Point station.

The Burbank location has four spots for EV's. Burbank still has the problem of non-EV's parking in the spots, but it is much less of an issue. We used the Charge Point Station several weeks in a row to attend a weekly farmer's market and we noticed the same hybrid vehicle using the spots, but not charging. This is as bad as a non-EV parking in the spot.

The biggest thing that most people don't realize, is that these are not parking spaces. They are charging stations. After looking up the regulations online, the spaces are intended for vehicles only as long as they need to charge and then they are to be moved. It's like using public laundromats and needing to remove your clothes from the machine as soon as the machine finishes. Same concept.

As I explored the issue on the internet, I realized that this is where a lot of the EV hate stems from, the misunderstanding regarding the utilization of the spaces. Non-EV owners are upset because they think EV's are getting special parking spaces, akin to handicap parking. Fully EV owners are upset, because they think they should have priority over hybrid owners, who don't technically need to use the charging stations. EV and Hybrid owners are irritated when anyone parks there that isn't charging.

It's a mess!

To make matters more confusing, I take issue with something that I saw in the Venetian parking structure in Las Vegas. At the Venetian, tucked away on the upper levels of the parking structure are many spots reserved for "alternative fuel" vehicles. However, none of these spots have charging stations.

They are hardly prime parking spots ( another non-EV owner complaint), yet they still exist as being set aside for EV owners and don't actually provide a purpose. This just perpetuates the confusion and problems.

I wrote a letter to the Venetian over a month ago, but have not received a response. If they write back, I will update this post. I really wanted to know the purpose of the spaces, because as I see it, it only antagonizes the issue.

This is a hot button issue and as more EV's are on the road everyday, it needs to be cooled down and resolved.

Petersen Automotive Museum Breakfast Club Cruise-In

On Sunday, Dan and I joined our SoCal Smarties group at the Petersen Automotive Museum's monthly event, Breakfast Cruise-In. The event is held on the roof of the museum's parking structure and is open for the public to display their personal collection exotic, classic and special interest cars. As a participant, we were given free parking, 2-for-1 tickets to the museum and coffee/donuts. Great deal!

We brought Hopper, our new Electric Drive Smart and arrived at the event a little early, meeting up with a few members, including the event host, Victor. Thanks for planning a fun event Victor!

Even if you don't own a special car, it's worth visiting the Petersen Automotive Museum during the monthly event as it essentially adds another area of the museum to visit. It's free for anyone who happens to be visiting the museum (technically you don't even need to go into the museum, just walk up to the roof of the parking structure) and was advertised throughout the museum. Some of the cars brought to the event were even more impressive than the museum's collection.

There was a lot to see at the cruise-in. We had a medium sized turn out, but I think that we had the most amount of cars for any single club at the event.

A few of the many Smarts at the meet, Hopper is the white and green.

There were so many beautiful cars.

The most unusual vehicle by a long-shot was this old fire truck, that had been lovingly restored and modified. I love all of the details, especially the bee.

We went into the museum when it opened at ten. In the section displaying early cars, we saw the first electric vehicle, a Detroit Electric. The Detroit Electrics started being manufactured in 1906 and like our Electric Smart, it was a quiet drive!

The museum has three levels and we took about an hour to go through it. We were a bit on car overload and ended up rushing it, as on previous visits, I spent over two hours enjoying the Peterson. It's a very well done museum with highly immersive displays and education slickly snuck in among the fun exhibits.

Dan likes to give his son Hot Wheels and the kid has amassed quite a collection. I knew that Dan would like the Hot Wheels section of the Petersen, where they have on display every body model ever made.

There were several signs promoting the Breakfast Club Cruise-In event.

On the third floor we found a picture opportunity. I've joined the police force to bust people for parking Non-ED vehicles in ED Charging stations. We had some issues this weekend and it's our new crusade!

We wrapped up our visit to the Petersen with lunch at Johnny Rockets, located on the first floor of the museum. We had a great time at the meet-up and I enjoyed introducing Dan to another new place in Los Angeles. The Petersen does a great job with hosting the monthly Cruise-In and I highly recommend the event.