Off to a successful start

Well, day one is for the history books. We’re here in South Windsor fueling up for the night, and I think there’s general agreement that we had a successful start to the tour.

About 45 people attended the kick off event, including Senator Olympia Snowe. There, like at the rest of the stops, the number one question was, “What can we do to make this happen?” These are the types of questions this tour is supposed to highlight, and having a number of reporters at the event is a good sign that there is interest in this technology.

We had a smooth drive out of Maine, driving about two hours in overcast weather to Billerica, Massachusetts. I wasn’t really sure how the ride would go – if each vehicle would head out on its own – but this truly was a caravan. With limited fueling along the way, if one of the other drivers was low on fuel, we’d all slow down to help conserve until we made it to the next stop.

I did hit some traffic on the way into Cambridge – thanks to my days at MIT, I wasn’t surprise by the traffic, and I remembered enough of the city to get around. Well, to be honest, I remembered some of the city, my GPS remembered the rest.

The traffic in Cambridge was a piece a cake, however, compared to the storm on our way to South Windsor. At one point I couldn’t see more than 200 feet in front of me, and just kept my eyes on the taillights of the vehicle directly in front of me. The Tiguan handled great in the rain, but the weather did slow us down. We arrived in South Windsor about 30 minutes behind schedule.

It’s just about my turn to fuel. It’s been a long day, but a good one. Check back soon, I'll have videos and photos posted from the day.