2 Days Left....

Greetings from the Vegas airport.

If I was videoing this post, you’d hear the slot machines in the background, but not because I’m playing. Typing and gambling don’t mix.

We’re on our way to our next to last day of travel in lovely Phoenix, Arizona, but before I get ahead of myself let me tell you about Vegas.

We arrived late into Las Vegas last night and did some wandering around, but no vehicle caravan as we had hoped. Both last night and today the traffic was too intense on the strip and the risk was just too great to the cars. It’s not that they couldn’t cruise the strip, but as prototypes, they’re just a little too valuable to be exposed to that much traffic.

If you have never seen the fountain show at the Bellagio, check out the video I took.

Today we visited one of Las Vegas’ two permanent fueling stations. The city of Las Vegas is one of the most progressive environmentally. They power as much of the city’s systems as possible with green energy. In fact, the city generates three megawatts of solar electricity every day, some of which produces pure, green hydrogen fuel.

We had a large contingent of city and county officials at the event, along with representatives from state and federal offices. This was the first time many of the OEMs had ever fueled at these stations and the group was pleased to have the cars visit. We had our usual crowd of about 200 enthusiastic attendees, and I got some great videos.

Check out the first permanent fueling station.

Here's a glimpse of the second permanent fueling station.

After the ride and drive we actually had some issues that any car can face: a dead battery. Not the big hybrid batteries that our vehicles use, the small 12 volt that all cars have. Fortunately, we were prepared and we replaced it in about 20 minutes.

As I get ready to depart for Phoenix, I see a lot of tired faces on our merry band of drivers. It’s been a great trip but we are looking forward to the return to California and seeing our families.

Well, my flight’s getting ready to board. See you from Phoenix.