Tesla Owners Club Australia September 2020 Newsletter
18th September 2020
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Hello everyone, Winter has come and gone, and the year is marching on. We hope that this newsletter finds you safe and healthy. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected a lot of people and our thoughts are with anyone that has been adversely impacted. Our club has been observing local COVID-19 restrictions, and we urge you to stay safe when attending any of our events. Our club membership continues to grow and we have around 1200 members nationally now, with lots of new owners joining the ranks in the past year. Despite the restrictions of COVID-19 impacting our ability to hold events, the club’s membership continues to grow. If you haven’t already joined us on Facebook, our Tesla Owners Club Australia (Official) Facebook page is a great forum for you to ask questions, post photos and share stories. Facebook: Tesla Owners Club Australia (Official) Twitter: @teslaownersau
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING All members will have received an emailed Notice of the AGM, which will be held on Saturday 17th October 2020. This year, due to the rapidly changing COVID-19 restrictions, the committee have decided to hold the AGM and the associated voting entirely online. The AGM email previously sent includes details on how you can nominate to be part of the national committee for the year ahead. TOCA MEMBERSHIP REFERRAL WINNERS Last year we created a referral program where new members can nominate who referred them to join the our club. Everyone named as referring a new member was added to a lucky dip (current committee members aren’t eligible) and we recently held the first draw. And the lucky winners are:
Jude, Salbal and Adam have all won a fabulous TOCA shirt. Congratulations! Remember, every time you refer someone to become a member and they record this when they sign up you will be entered in the next lucky draw. A NEW COORDINATED NATIONAL EVENT CALENDAR Being geographically the largest Tesla Owners Club in the world, it’s difficult for us to all get together for an event. So we’re going to try something new. From November, each state will run a similar event on the same day across the nation. It could be a drive to a winery for lunch and the Victorians may choose the Yarra Valley, the South Australians the Barossa and NSW the Hunter. Then we can share photos of our events across the country. The strength of a national club with a local focus. We will be looking to our newly elected State Representatives to facilitate the events with the support of local members!
TOCA CAPS If you were a Full member prior to 1st June 2020 you should have received your TOCA cap by now. If you are an Associate or Partner member and would like a cap, keep an eye on our website as you will be able to purchase one in the coming weeks.
PHOTO COMPETITION For the next couple of weeks we have a TOCA cap photo competition running on Twitter and Facebook, so tweet or post your best cap photo with the #TOCACap and we will have a weekly prize for the best photo. LOCAL NEWS ACT Power Cruze Over 5,000KW/h of power toured Canberra in sixty seven Teslas as they cruzed from the top of Mt Ainslie out to the Tidbinbillat tracking station. A representative addressed the socially distanced crowd in the open car park, about the radio telescopes involvement when man stepped onto the moon. The Teslas then headed along some winding roads to the next stop at the Cotter Dam. The spirited drivers arrived well before the other Teslas! From here it was back into Canberra for two laps of Parliament House where the security kept a keen interest in us. A short drive later the Teslas lined up along ANZAC Parade for more photo opportunities. The day finished with a late lunch for those who were booked into the National Arboretum.
An update on the number of registered Teslas in the ACT revealed that of the almost three hundred Teslas, two thirds of them are model 3s. - Darryl
NSW Since the last newsletter NSW has been lucky enough to have been able to hold two drive events. The first was a scenic drive southwards through the Royal National Park including some great footage of a convoy of Teslas on the Sea Cliff Bridge. More recently the team took it up a notch with a drive northwards from the Central Coast, up the back roads to the Hunter Valley for lunch.
-James
NT 
At our last formal meet-up in February, Top End Tesla owners welcomed JP and his red Model 3 to our northern shores. The months since have seen more Teslas delivered into the NT but less opportunity for their jubilant owners to come together. Our next NT event is being planned for mid-September with details to be posted on the TOCA website and Member Jungle app in the coming weeks. -Richard
QLD 
Regretfully TOCA lost a well-known QLD member that we had to say goodbye to. Our dear TOCA friend and adventurer Linda’s life was unexpectedly shortened. Linda Röhrs was the first woman to circumnavigate Australia solo in a Tesla. Her beloved Carpe Noctem Tesla was also part of the ceremony. Five members of our TOCA QLD and three of our spouses participated in the ceremony and Rado Trensciansky gave a heart touching farewell speech. Posting this in memory of our friend as well as a good reminder to all of us to breathe deeply, live fully and smile often. Our TOCA QLD chapter organised a 221km Scenic Drive starting from the Brisbane Botanic Gardens to the historical township of Esk and continuing to The Split, a recreational reserve at Lake Somerset Dam where we settled for some a picnic and some socialising. We also took the opportunity to give a bit of a demo of the different charging possibilities and some of our new Tesla friends first learned about TOCA’s charging Adapter Loan Program. In the afternoon we headed back to Brisbane using the beautiful winding scenic road passing Mt. Glorious. -Marc
SA 
Here in South Australia we have continued to get to a few Sunday - Coffee and Cars every few weeks.. (Unley / Blackwood / Barossa and Noarlunga last weekend and have had anything from 12 cars to 2 cars depending on people’s commitments. The reduced interactions has tended to stop many of these events. Hoping as we come out of the Covid and warmer weather, to arrange more independent get together. I personally have been helping about 10+ referrals from Melbourne Tesla, to give people a look at the car and let them answer questions from an owner’s point of view. Onwards and upwards.... -Phil (aka Pip)
TAS
We count ourselves very lucky, in the current situation, to have been able to celebrate the opening of the new Campbelltown charger. Every Tassie EV driver knows just how pivotal charging at this central transit point will be for the state. And we are so very hopeful that before too long we can host some interstate travellers too. On a truly local note, being down toward the Antarctic, the past couple of months with snow, frost and sleet has also highlighted the value of scheduled departure and pre-heated seats! -Helen
VIC
Our drive to Healesville and Narbethong was a great day out, and it was fantastic to see new faces as well as old friends. We have a whole line-up of events planned and ready to go, but it looks like these may be on hold for the next couple of months. We will get together again as soon as it’s safe to do so. -Jenny
WA 
In WA, TOCWA organises events for members of both clubs. We’ve been slowly easing back into events after WA’s lightening of restrictions on travel. In late June, we had a rainy drive to Lancelin. We met at the Alkimos Tesla Destination charger and then drove to Wangaree Park. We made a great convoy and Gingin Shire were very happy to see us up there after their recent install of a charger at the park. We have a number of events scheduled in the school holidays. Our October Casual Meetup will be at the annual Rotary Como Car Show at Wesley College, South Perth. We hope to have the Targa-winning Model 3 there, and if you’re interested in showing off your Tesla, get in touch. This year the show is on Sunday October 4th, from 10am, Public entry $10 adult, $8 conc., gold coin under 18 – all proceeds to Rotary and Wesley charities. Our other big event for October is our overnight drive to the wheatbelt town of Kulin, home of the famous waterslide, and right in the heart of wildflower country. We’re planning to stay overnight from October 10th to 11th. We’ll be limiting the organised drivers to 20 for this drive with convoys taking a pair of routes. There is hotel, AirBnB and camping accommodation options. -Ken DISCOUNTED TESLA APPAREL
To receive your discount code to use at checkout, simply send an email to secretary@teslaowners.org.au for your unique 1-time discount code. Please note that the Tesla store is in the United States and they do not ship items internationally, so you will need to use a parcel forwarding service such as Auspost Shopmate for shipping. Apparel can be purchased by visiting: https://shop.tesla.com/
MEMBER JUNGLE APP
Do you use a smartphone? Then this app is for you!
The Member Jungle app provides a great way to keep up to date with upcoming events and news, access your membership card for member benefits, check your membership details and contact the club.
Instructions for downloading and setting up the app can be found at: https://www.teslaowners.org.au/app
That’s all for now folks, stay healthy and safe and we look forward to seeing you at one of our events soon!
Cheers, Mark Tipping (Tippo) |
Tasmania had its first, post isolation get-together last month with a lunch catch up at the 1930s Kermandie Hotel in Port Huon, and did a drive to what will soon be Australia’s southernmost fast charger at Geeveston (thanks to member Dave Connell for the pic). 
We were hoping to be able to get our events back up and running, but we only managed to get one drive in before the restrictions were re-introduced.
If you are interested in Tesla merchandise, we have negotiated a special deal where you are eligible for a once-off 20% discount on all apparel purchases at the Tesla store.
