Carson Gallo shares his unique experience of living out of his Tesla Model X for over eight years. He discusses how he transitioned from a challenging living situation to embracing van life in an electric vehicle, highlighting the freedom and savings it provides. Carson also touches on his background as a Tesla employee, his involvement with the Tesla Owners Club of Florida, and the various hacks he's developed for comfortable living on the road. His story is both inspiring and informative, showcasing the possibilities of life with an electric vehicle.
A special guest joins me to tell me his fascinating story of living out of his Tesla – by choice – for the past eight years. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
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"...I named all the tiers on the Patreon after speed modes on Teslas to the best of my ability, and that $10 per month tier you'll be getting not only the ad-free early access..."
Ludicrous mode is a special setting in some Tesla cars that makes them go really fast, almost like a race car. It helps the car accelerate quickly.
Ludicrous mode is a performance feature in Tesla vehicles that allows for extremely rapid acceleration, significantly enhancing the driving experience. It is designed for maximum speed and performance.
"...the big reason now to Tesla's credit they have improved their extended warranty options, but I still think Xcare is significantly better..."
Xcare is a company that sells extra protection plans for electric cars. These plans help cover repairs after the original warranty from the car maker ends, and they offer more options than some other plans.
Xcare is a company that offers extended warranties specifically for electric vehicles (EVs), providing coverage beyond the manufacturer's warranty. They are noted for their customizable plans and additional benefits compared to standard manufacturer warranties.
"...if you're planning on hanging on to your Tesla or other EV past the manufacturer's warranty, you're going to want to consider an extended warranty..."
An extended warranty is like extra insurance for your car that helps pay for repairs after the original warranty runs out. It can cover different parts of the car and helps you avoid big repair bills.
An extended warranty is a service contract that provides additional coverage for repairs after the manufacturer's warranty expires. It can cover various components and services, offering peace of mind for vehicle owners.
"...Xcare covers what others don't from the EV battery and drive unit repairs to towing rental coverage in 24 seven roadside help..."
Roadside help is a service that helps you if your car breaks down while you're driving. They can tow your car, change a flat tire, or jump-start your battery.
Roadside help is a service that provides assistance to drivers who experience vehicle breakdowns or emergencies while on the road. This can include towing, tire changes, and battery jump-starts.
"...Xcare covers what others don't from the EV battery and drive unit repairs to towing rental coverage..."
The EV battery is the big battery that powers electric cars. It stores energy to make the car go and affects how far you can drive before needing to recharge.
The EV battery is the primary power source for electric vehicles, storing energy that powers the electric motor. It is crucial for the vehicle's range and performance.
"...Xcare covers what others don't from the EV battery and drive unit repairs to towing rental coverage..."
The drive unit is the part of an electric car that helps it move. It takes power from the battery and turns it into motion to make the car go.
The drive unit in an electric vehicle is the component that converts electrical energy from the battery into mechanical energy to drive the wheels. It typically includes the electric motor and associated components.
"...living with crappy people at a crappy Nissan Sentra that kept breaking down. So I thought you know these cars..."
The Nissan Sentra is a small car that many people use to get around. It's known for being affordable and reliable.
The Nissan Sentra is a compact car that has been popular for its affordability and practicality. Known for its reliability, it is often used as a daily driver.
"...you're speaking to my own heart referencing Doc Brown there as a former DeLorean owner here."
The DeLorean is a unique car that became famous from movies. It has a shiny metal body and doors that open upwards.
The DeLorean is a sports car manufactured by the DeLorean Motor Company, most famously known for its appearance in the 'Back to the Future' movies. It features a distinctive stainless steel body and gull-wing doors.
"...own heart referencing Doc Brown there as a former DeLorean owner here. You know the right buttons to push to..."
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a unique car that has doors that open upwards, and it's made of shiny stainless steel. It became famous because it was used as a time machine in the 'Back to the Future' movies. People love talking about it because it's different and has a cool story behind it.
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car that became iconic largely due to its role in the 'Back to the Future' film series. Known for its gullwing doors and stainless-steel body, the DeLorean represents a unique chapter in automotive history, blending futuristic design with a short production run in the early 1980s. Its cult status and nostalgic appeal often lead to discussions about its design and cultural impact.
"...when the Solar City acquisition was that around like I don't know is that 10 12 years ago at this point."
Solar City was a company that helped people install solar panels to generate their own electricity. Tesla bought Solar City to combine their electric cars with solar energy solutions.
Solar City was a provider of energy services, primarily focused on solar energy systems. It was acquired by Tesla in 2016 to integrate solar energy solutions with electric vehicles, enhancing Tesla's mission of sustainable energy.
"...all the work was being put into Model 3 everybody was dropping everything for production hell at some times and then Tesla had announced a solar roof."
The Tesla Model 3 is a popular electric car that is known for being more affordable than other Tesla models. It has a long battery range and comes with many high-tech features.
The Tesla Model 3 is an all-electric sedan that was designed to be more affordable than Tesla's previous models, aiming to bring electric vehicles to a wider audience. It features advanced technology, impressive range, and performance, making it a significant player in the electric vehicle market.
"...we just introduced the power wall to at the time the solar roof was out there and we're taking pre-orders for that..."
The Powerwall is a battery made by Tesla that stores electricity. You can use it to power your home when the sun isn't shining or during a power outage.
The Powerwall is a rechargeable lithium-ion battery storage system designed by Tesla for residential use. It stores energy from solar panels or the grid for use during power outages or peak demand times.
"...New York has had a good adoption of electric vehicles at the time."
Electric vehicles are cars that run on electricity instead of gas. They are better for the environment because they produce less pollution.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are cars that are powered entirely or partially by electricity instead of traditional gasoline or diesel fuel. They are known for being more environmentally friendly and often have lower operating costs.
"...There are federal and state incentives net metering and plus utility charge some of the highest rates in the country..."
Federal and state incentives are money or tax breaks that the government gives to people to encourage them to buy electric cars or solar panels.
Federal and state incentives refer to financial benefits provided by the government to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles and renewable energy systems. These can include tax credits, rebates, and grants.
"You ended up buying a model X and what which I guess what when did you get it let me start there because I know I can tell from the picture you sent me that it's it's a pre pre twenty twenty one car but when did you get it."
The Tesla Model X is an electric SUV that has unique doors that open upwards. It's known for being very high-tech and has a lot of space inside, which makes it a favorite for families and tech lovers.
The Tesla Model X is an all-electric SUV known for its distinctive falcon-wing doors and advanced technology features. It offers impressive performance and a spacious interior, making it popular among electric vehicle enthusiasts.
"...March of twenty eighteen and I leased it at the time through Tesla's employee lease program."
Tesla has a special program for its employees that lets them lease cars for less money than usual. This helps employees drive Tesla cars and support the company.
Tesla's employee lease program allows Tesla employees to lease vehicles at favorable terms, often with lower monthly payments compared to standard leasing options. This program is designed to encourage employees to drive and promote Tesla vehicles.
"...Lots of free supercharging through the referral program. Well but I think at that point S S and X just had it by default..."
Supercharging is a way to quickly charge Tesla cars at special stations. It helps drivers get back on the road faster than regular charging methods.
Supercharging refers to Tesla's fast-charging network that allows Tesla owners to quickly recharge their vehicles. This system significantly reduces charging time compared to standard home chargers.
A referral link is a special web link that someone can share with others. When someone uses that link to buy something, both people can get rewards or discounts.
A referral link is a unique URL that allows one user to refer another to a service or product, often providing benefits to both parties. In the context of Tesla, using a referral link can yield perks like discounts or bonuses for the referrer and the new customer.
"...going from a Nissan Sentra to a Tesla. Huge leap in technology."
Tesla is a company that makes electric cars, which means they run on electricity instead of gasoline. They are known for having cool technology and features that other cars don't have.
Tesla is an electric vehicle manufacturer known for its innovative technology and high-performance electric cars. The brand has gained a reputation for its advancements in battery technology and autonomous driving features.
"Wow. Original battery. Yeah original high voltage battery pack."
The high voltage battery pack is what gives electric cars their power. It's like the gas tank in a regular car, but instead of gas, it stores electricity.
The high voltage battery pack in electric vehicles like the Tesla Model X stores energy to power the electric motors. It is crucial for the vehicle's range and performance.
"...the OEM tires kept going through really fast."
OEM tires are the tires that are put on a car when it's first made. They are designed to work well with that specific car.
OEM tires are original equipment manufacturer tires that come installed on a vehicle when it is sold. They are designed to meet the manufacturer's specifications for performance and safety.
"...until I finally switched to third party sets of tires Michelin's Yokohamas that have good tread warranties."
Third party tires are tires made by other companies, not the ones that originally came with the car. They can sometimes last longer or perform better.
Third party tires are tires manufactured by companies other than the original equipment manufacturer. They may offer different performance characteristics or warranties compared to OEM tires.
"...third party sets of tires Michelin's Yokohamas that have good tread warranties."
Yokohama is another tire brand that makes tires for cars. They focus on creating tires that perform well, especially for sports cars.
Yokohama is a tire manufacturer known for producing high-performance tires for various types of vehicles, including cars, trucks, and motorsports. They are recognized for their innovative designs and technology.
"...third party sets of tires Michelin's Yokohamas that have good tread warranties."
Michelin is a popular brand that makes tires for cars. They are known for making high-quality tires that last a long time.
Michelin is a well-known tire manufacturer that produces a wide range of tires for different vehicles, known for their quality and performance. They offer various models that cater to different driving needs.
"Definitely would love to have full self-driving fully ready so that way I can just go in the back and sleep and wake up in my destination."
Full self-driving means that the car can drive itself without any help from a person. Tesla is working on making this feature available, but it's not fully ready yet.
Full self-driving (FSD) refers to Tesla's advanced driver-assistance system that aims to enable fully autonomous driving without human intervention, though it is still in development and requires driver supervision.
"I do have hardware 3 so I'm still hopeful that'll happen one day."
Hardware 3 is the computer inside Tesla cars that helps them understand their surroundings and drive themselves. It's important for the self-driving features.
Hardware 3, also known as the Full Self-Driving Computer, is the onboard computer used in Tesla vehicles to process data from the car's sensors and cameras for autonomous driving features.
"...if I could bring FSD closer to reality I would definitely do so..."
FSD means Full Self-Driving, which is a feature from Tesla that lets the car drive itself. It can change lanes and recognize traffic lights without much help from the driver.
FSD stands for Full Self-Driving, a feature offered by Tesla that allows the car to navigate and drive itself with minimal human intervention. It includes capabilities like automatic lane changes and traffic light recognition.
"...ibly coming to the US. Maybe Tesla will tweak the Cybertruck so you can have camp remote in the Cyber Vault. O..."
The Tesla Cybertruck is a new type of electric truck that looks very different from regular trucks because of its sharp angles and metallic body. It's designed to be strong and has cool technology inside, making it popular among people who like modern cars. People talk about it because it's unlike anything we've seen before.
The Tesla Cybertruck is an all-electric pickup truck known for its distinctive angular design and durable exoskeleton. It represents Tesla's foray into the truck market, aiming to combine utility with advanced technology and sustainability. Its unique features and futuristic look often spark discussions about the future of automotive design and electric vehicles.
"So I have an eight year infinite mile battery and drivetrain warranty. That is still good until March of next year."
A drivetrain warranty protects the parts of your car that help it move, like the transmission and axles. If something goes wrong with these parts, the car company will fix it for free during the warranty period.
A drivetrain warranty covers the components that deliver power to the wheels, including the transmission, driveshaft, and axles. This warranty ensures that if any of these parts fail, the manufacturer will cover the repair or replacement costs for a specified duration.
"So I have an eight year infinite mile battery and drivetrain warranty. That is still good until March of next year."
A battery warranty means that if your car's battery stops working, the company will fix or replace it for free during the warranty period. This specific warranty lasts for eight years, no matter how many miles you drive.
A battery warranty covers the cost of repairs or replacement of the battery if it fails within a specified period. In this case, an 'infinite mile battery and drivetrain warranty' suggests that the warranty is not limited by mileage, which is particularly beneficial for electric vehicles like Teslas.
"... millions of people have of watching them on live stream. But watching a SpaceX launch in person happening..."
The Honda Stream is a family-friendly car that has a lot of space inside for people and their stuff. It's smaller than a big van but still very practical for everyday use, making it a good choice for families. People talk about it because it's reliable and can fit a lot of things.
The Honda Stream is a compact multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) that was designed for families and those needing extra space without moving up to a full-size van. Known for its practicality and reliability, the Stream offers flexible seating and cargo options, making it a popular choice in markets where compact family vehicles are favored. Discussions about the Stream often center around its functionality and efficiency.
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On this week's episode of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, a special guest joins me to tell me his absolutely fascinating story of living out of his Tesla by choice for the past eight years and counting.
I hope you enjoy the conversation. It's coming up next.
What's happening friends? I'm Ryan McCaffrey and this is episode 539 of Ride the Lightning, the Tesla and EV podcast, coming at you every single week.
This one's publishing on November 30th, 2025, but as it is right now, it is a Saturday afternoon, early afternoon.
I've got Daisy the Boxer chilling out on the couch to my left and at my feet, the lovely Lily the Silly Labrador.
It's an overcast day and I am getting ready to head out of town with my extended family for Thanksgiving, so I'm recording this one early for you guys,
which means of course I can't do weekly current news and comment on that because I'm recording this ahead of time.
So as is usually the case when I do head out of town and take a break a couple times a year with my family,
I've got a conversation pre-recorded for you with somebody that I found extremely interesting and I hope you will too.
So as always, if I do miss any big Tesla or EV news from this past week as you hear this, which is the Thanksgiving week in the US,
I'll talk about it on next week's podcast. Now thankfully the odds are a bit more in favor of it being a relatively quiet news week on account of the USA Thanksgiving holiday,
but then again, as somebody that's been covering Tesla and doing this podcast for over 10 years now, there is rarely a dull moment in the world of Tesla,
so please accept my apologies in advance for anything crazy that might have happened this past week that would have normally merited a lot of discussion on the podcast.
I'll cover it when I get back, but I do want to sincerely say to all of you that I'm just very grateful to all of you,
not only for listening, for taking the time, but for also just being understanding so that I can take some time away with my family.
As I hope is clear, if you've been listening to this podcast for some time, I do take this podcast really seriously, like I have fun with it, of course I wouldn't be doing it if I wasn't having fun,
but I take the responsibility that I've created for myself of doing this and doing it to the best of my ability every single week very seriously and I'm really proud to put out 52 episodes per year,
but again, since this is not the typical news reaction analysis format, if you'd rather skip this one and wait until the next episode when the regular format returns,
hey, I completely understand, it's a podcast, it's free, you're welcome to listen to it or not, but I do hope that you'll give this episode a chance because my guest story is a really fascinating one.
I had actually never met him, I traded a couple emails with this gentleman beforehand, I was connected to him through a mutual Tesla friend,
but the first time we ever spoke directly, like face to face as it were, was in this interview that you're about to listen to and I had a great time chatting with him
and by the end I was really happy that I had taken some time to get to know this person and their very unique Tesla story, so that is coming up in just a moment.
But real quick, before I get to that main event this week, that interview, I did want to mention my Patreon, so this podcast of course has always been free, is free, and always will be free, that's how it should be,
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The support tiers start at just five bucks a month and for that five bucks a month you'll not only get early access to every single episode, in fact this very episode you're listening to now was posted ultra extra early for the Patreon folks
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My most popular tier is the $10 per month tier, I call it the ludicrous tier, I named all the tiers on the Patreon after speed modes on Teslas to the best of my ability, and that $10 per month tier you'll be getting not only the ad-free early access,
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if you're willing and able to support me on Patreon I would be extremely grateful, particularly at this holiday season, so take a look over on my Patreon page which again you can find at patreon.com slash Tesla podcast.
Also don't forget about my friends at Accelerate Auto, your EV warranty is important, if you're planning on hanging on to your Tesla or other EV past the manufacturer's warranty, you're going to want to consider an extended warranty,
and I'm a big fan of the Xcare warranty more so than Tesla's, and the big reason now to Tesla's credit they have improved their extended warranty options, but I still think Xcare is significantly better and the big reason for that is because it does everything Tesla's does and it does more,
and it's also customizable, you don't have to just keep paying month after month like you do with the Tesla one, with Xcare you can choose alright I'd like to do like in my case my new one after my previous one expired I already went through it
I did 3 years 36,000 additional miles this time, but you can go all the way up to 10 additional years and 125,000 additional miles so or anywhere in between right it's up to you what's going to work best for you, so when your factory coverage ends the risks begin that is where Xcare EV protection comes in
it's the number one rated EV warranty just ask chat gpt and grok they'll tell you and I'm dead serious try it Xcare covers what others don't from the EV battery and drive unit repairs to towing rental coverage in 24 seven roadside help because when your EV stops Xcare doesn't
check your vehicles eligibility today at Xcare dot com that's X C A R E dot com or talk to a real person right now by dialing 844-755-4186 that's Xcare dot com or call 844-755-4186 and drive with confidence
this is Bill Daniels the voice of night industries 2000 or kit you're listening to ride the lightning the Tesla unofficial podcast happy electric motoring
my guest this week is a gentleman by the name of Carson Gallo he calls himself a Tesla van lifer for the past eight years he's also a two time Tesla employee the president of the Tesla owners Club of Florida and a military veteran Carson welcome
thanks for having me my good man
we met back at as you just kindly reminded me before we started recording back at the first Tesla con Florida event you guys just came off the second one I guess before we dive into your story I'll start there how how did it go how did how did around to go for Tesla con Florida
yeah well this year we actually had two big events here in Florida we had Tesla space sham and then Tesla con both of them went off amazingly I like to incorporate some comedy into the event so for Tesla space sham we had
a star man himself and seeing the entire event thanks to Eli Burton for donating his star man costume and then at Tesla con in Florida we had a professional stand-up comedian Dan Needon do stand-up comedy as star man actually and at the end of both events they went off with a rocket launch thanks to space X
that is perfect you could you couldn't plan it any better than that and you did you didn't plan it you did it that is fantastic man although I do have to correct you on one thing you mentioned
Eli Burton's star man costume there there's there's no such thing as that there's there's Eli Burton a regular man and then there's star man I you know I don't know about this costume thing that you're talking about
fair enough fair enough those those of you listening that might might know star man or not might know Eli know the kind of running joke on that that I'm referring to but Eli's good people and and I'm I'm so glad he's got a roadster an original roadster of his own now
because the star man should have a roadster to travel through space with yeah exactly shouldn't be just stuck in space we need one on earth as well when he doesn't exactly well let's talk about you for a minute because again you know
you and I started talking many months ago I you had said I you know I'd love to actually I think a friend wreck of somebody else in the Tesla Florida group had recommended hey you should talk to you should talk to this guy Carson and when I got the the sort of top level elevator pitch of of your story
that yeah that's that's an interesting person in the Tesla community that I would love to talk to so you have lived out of your Tesla for for years at a time that alone is is just super interesting to me and and I really want to hear all about that life but let's just back up let's
take the steps to get to that point tell me how you first heard about Tesla like what's I like to call it people's Tesla origin story like a superhero origin story so how'd you first become aware of the company and of the cars.
Yes so going back to the beginning you know I was a big Apple fan you know I loved Apple I watched all the Apple keynotes Steve Jobs was my hero and unfortunately when he passed away on my 18th birthday you know just the level of innovation was starting to go down a little bit
but then I heard about this come these companies solar city Tesla and this man called Elon Musk and he seemed like somebody who was picking up the torch so to speak and my brother.
He ended up working at solar city actually and then introduced me to working at solar city myself and that's how I became part of Tesla themselves when Tesla bought out solar city.
I became part of the Tesla brand and while working for Tesla.
You know I was going through some living crazy living situations having crappy apartments crappy rooms living with crappy people at a crappy Nissan Sentra that kept breaking down.
So I thought you know these cars you know the old lecture cars you know I could I can leave the heat on I can leave the air conditioning on they're big enough now that I can live in it.
So I figured I'll get an awesome car an awesome place to live and I'll live with an awesome person myself.
I figure if I get a little bit of car when I do it some style.
Well that's you're speaking to my own heart referencing Doc Brown there as a former DeLorean owner here.
You know the right buttons to push to to engender you to to warm up to me like that so that's I love it.
So let me go back to the to the jobs thing for a second the Steve Jobs thing because I think you hit on something that that a lot of people can would probably are probably nodding their heads have been in agreement with you right now because yeah jobs Steve.
I mean maybe the younger listeners aren't quite as familiar with him as as he as a sort of business leader of Apple and sort of the kind of personality and figure he was.
I definitely would recommend I'm sure you've you've already taken this recommendation I would definitely recommend that people read Walter Isaacson's Jobs biography.
I read that when it first came out and it was it was really interesting he was it painted a full picture of the guy you know it was an authorized biography he was he was not a perfect person no one is.
But he you know throughout the book this idea like from other people that they kept getting attributed to Steve Jobs was the reality distortion field right where he would he just he would bend reality to his will through some kind of innate personality force.
And I think it's it's fair to say we would both agree that Elon again not a perfect person but seems to have that same reality distortion field quality to him.
Exactly exactly he'll make promises and you know he tries to keep those promises even if they're late he makes he keeps those promises.
So you hear about Tesla you're you're at Solar City what were you doing at Solar City out of curiosity but when Tesla acquired the company.
Yeah I was an energy specialist so I would educate my fellow humans about the energy the batteries all that good stuff and interestingly I did that out of vendor locations like Home Depot's and best spots.
And how did how was that experience because I guess and put it put a quick timeline on it for me like what I guess because I can't quite remember exactly when the Solar City acquisition was that around like I don't know is that 10 12 years ago at this point.
20 October of 2016 and that's a month that I joined the company as well.
And I was there till 2018 until mass layout.
Yeah yeah that was the first big one as I recall that Tesla had done but so if you're again you're you're really on the the front lines of it with with regard to solar and trying to get the word out to people when you're you see you're at solar.
You're at Home Depot lows etc that kind of thing so what was and where were you because I think you you were in you're from New York previously before you got to Florida do I have that right.
Yes correct yeah specifically Long Island where I lived in my Tesla for three and a half years there and then yeah this was at Home Depot's and best buys across Long Island.
It was an interesting time we were kind of like you know forgotten stepchild of Tesla a little bit because all the work was being put into Model 3 everybody was dropping everything for production hell at some times and then Tesla had announced a solar roof.
And half the people you speak with like I want to wait for the roof I want to wait for this I want to wait for the aesthetics.
So but still Tesla released great new aesthetic panels and just recently they updated again which I'm happy to see as well the Buffalo Gigafactory was coming online.
So it was a lot of exciting things but at the same time you know a lot of priorities were shifted to the vehicles because the Model 3 was they were all in either right at the Model 3 out there or the whole company would collapse.
Because you're you know so Long Island I would imagine in the home in Home Depot and various storefronts like your Long Island you're probably encountering people of all stripes and affiliations right like yeah super you know people that are just super
gung-ho about about solar and and clean energy and and probably and then probably the far opposite end of people that aren't so like was it like how was it talking to people about about solar back then you know did you find a lot of open minds or was it
because maybe it's maybe fair to say that 2016 it maybe wasn't the idea of renewable energy maybe wasn't and tell me if you disagree.
Not quite as politicized as it is now so I'd just be kind of curious to hear like how your conversations with people when if people were open minded if you got a lot of you know things that made your head spin or what.
Yeah so Long Island was actually one of the top regions for Tesla Energy's residential program fact there was two warehouses on Long Island at the time and the fact that we were transitioning from the solar city brand to the Tesla Tesla brand that really helped out a lot and getting the word out and
people were very excited about the brand and see what seeing what people Tesla's doing with the vehicles they wanted to check out what Tesla was doing on the energy side.
Plus we just introduced the power wall to at the time the solar roof was out there and we're taking pre-orders for that so yeah there's definitely a lot of people excited about it New York has had a good adoption of electric vehicles at the time.
There are federal and state incentives net metering and plus utility charge some of the highest rates in the country so it was a really good market Long Island.
Nice so good it sounds like it was a pretty a pretty positive experience up until that's unfortunate layoff.
No hard feelings Tesla.
Do you would you consider yourself a car enthusiast prior to falling into Tesla what how are you with cars before that did you care too much or.
I would not like just like you know it's a cool thing like I see the DeLorean from back to the future I wanted that as my first car.
You know I'd see some classic cars here and there but really I considered myself a techie and the fact that Tesla released basically a smartphone on wheels that's what really got me into it.
Yeah I I hear that from so many people that that that's you know that that's really what what sucked them in was that was the tech aspect of it and and it's to me that's one of my favorite parts about doing a techie.
Tesla podcast and being part of the Tesla community is is it really is like it's not just your sort of stereotypical middle aged guys driving sports car X right it is it is people that care about tech it's people that care about.
Autonomy it's people that care about performance it's people that care about safety like it really is there there's so many different ways in to the Tesla space and just the EV space overall I think but Tesla specifically that that's always that's always been interesting to me so.
You know you ended up buying a model X and what which I guess what when did you get it let me start there because I know I can tell from the picture you sent me that it's it's a pre pre twenty twenty one car but when did you get it.
March of twenty eighteen and I leased it at the time through Tesla's employee lease program.
Okay.
So what made you want to go with that versus I mean the model three did exist at the time although I guess March of twenty eighteen you you had to be.
The line was pretty deep at that point.
Right.
Yeah.
But why do you know why X over S for instance.
Yeah it was the biggest EV you can get at the time and I knew right away that I wanted to be sleeping in and living in it long term and my legs being the biggest EV at the time just made the most sense.
Lots of free supercharging through the referral program.
Well but I think at that point S S and X just had it by default.
Right.
Do I remember that correctly.
No I actually had a user referral link.
Interestingly I use Steve Wozniak's referral link.
Yes Steve's a former Tesla owner.
I don't know if he still has his.
I know he did it for a while.
Yes.
Interestingly the day I picked up my model X using his referral link one of the top Tesla stories is Steve Wozniak complaining about his model three delivery.
Delayed again.
Steve's a man of the people man from everything I can tell.
I mean I've not met him but you know everything I see on him seems like he is he is as down to earth as you can possibly get.
Yep.
All right so what as you're so you've convinced you've told yourself all right model X I want to live out of it.
Yeah.
What like what configuration do you get like how did you did you get super into it like are you studying the paint colors are you wrestling with the interior color options.
And and I and then seating wise I'm guessing if you're sort of thinking about this as just you is it is it a five seat acts like what's what's the configuration and how and how fun was that to sort of put the car together.
Yeah.
So I got the 75 D at the time which is the cheapest trim.
You know I did lease it at first because I had little to no credit history and at the time Tesla was definitely doing lease buyouts and then yes five seater config.
Definitely didn't want to do the six seater because the second row could I cannot pull flat.
I'm transporting seven people and I'd like the extra sub trunk space so I didn't go with the seven seater either.
And then for paint for color and interior because it's New York at the time which sometimes the winters can get pretty cold.
I went with all black for better heat retention.
Nice.
And then you ended up in Florida.
Which is if you look at pictures of my car now almost half the car is actually now white on the outside just right now like the bumper the spoiler that need to be they were scratched up or need to be replaced.
And I'm like while insurance is covering I'm like why you're at it.
Make it white.
Yeah.
Insurance is covering it anyway.
Might as well make it white.
And now I got a two tone look and that's why I named him named my Tesla Optimus after the two tone black and white.
Nice.
Love it.
So your second go around at Tesla when was that I guess sounds like it was well actually I don't know because maybe the sounds that was the first.
Did you get your X on the employee lease thing.
Yes.
Prior to the layoff.
Right.
Correct.
Yeah.
So I got in March of 2018 and then I was laid off in late June or early July of 2018.
And then I was rehired in February of 2019.
But before I could even start my new job another mass layoff even my recruiter got laid off.
Wait.
So did you.
So are you saying you got laid off before you even really got started.
Am I hearing that correctly.
Yeah.
I had a start day.
It was scheduled for training.
Good to go.
And it was like a couple of weeks before that sent out another notice and even my recruiter got laid off.
Wow.
That's that's about the that's pretty terrible luck right there.
I mean I guess I don't know is that maybe that's better than having started and work there for a week or a month or something.
I don't know.
I don't know if it's better or worse.
How do you feel about it.
I mean I would have loved to have started.
Yeah.
I would have been better sweet.
I think down a year about two years before I would have loved them to get at least get some free free paid training for the new job to be a solar technician.
Could those skills could have come in handy.
But you know it all worked out.
I ended up going to Lyft corporate which a lot of Tesla alumni went over to was doing driver support and helping Lyft drivers get get into electric vehicles to have had better earnings and retain those earnings.
And then for the past three years I've been working for a company that specializes in financing and refinancing EVs tenant EV finance.
So almost every day I'm helping people get into Teslas anyway.
So it all worked out.
That's awesome.
That's awesome.
In the time that you had at Tesla did your perception of the company change at all once you sort of saw things from the inside a little bit.
Like did you did you see it any differently and feel any differently about it either you know better for better or for worse.
Yes.
Yes.
You know you see see the company from the outside and obviously everything seems perfect and then you get inside and then you could still see the start up.
Start up mindset there.
You know people are acting very scrappy which I love by the way you know you can report things directly to my boss's boss's boss and he'll take care of it.
And then you know you see some things that are buggy or behind the scenes that you know you don't aren't really going to be seen from the outsider.
But yeah it really changed my perspective on you know on how to report things it made me you know more productive and in my future jobs as well.
And yeah I would definitely that's why I definitely want to work for them again about a year later.
So judging from the fact that you're sitting here with me now you're the president of the Tesla owners Club in Florida.
I'm guessing that second layoff didn't take too much wind out of your sales in terms of your enthusiasm for Tesla.
So I mean it sounds like you're you're happy doing what you're doing right now but any thoughts of trying to go back and work for Tesla a third time.
I just don't think it's meant to be.
You know I did try actually many times for a third time and every single time either the recruiters didn't get back to me or they say unfortunately because you were part of a layoff.
We have to confirm with HR that you're rehire eligible but by the time HR would get back to other recruiters the positions would already be filled.
So ironically it's harder to get hired again by Tesla if you already worked for the company than is if you were a fresh hire.
Go figure.
It all worked out.
I'm helping people get into Teslas and EVs and and now I'm helping to run the Tesla owners Club of Florida which is helping you know increase the morale of our Tesla owners
and doing fun get-togethers with Tesla owners as well as working with Tesla employees all the time.
I just had a good meeting with some Tesla employees the other day about helping them with their grand opening for a new location in Orlando.
Oh that's awesome.
Love to hear that.
So what brought you down to Florida then?
Yeah so everything down here is just faster cleaner and newer.
There's more charging stations here for me to stay at.
There's resorts for me to stay at.
That's nothing.
I love staying at resorts.
A lot of these resorts have free parking and free charging and they might be leaving the gates open to their pools and many water parks in the back and I could just walk in and live like a cyber king.
I love it.
That's awesome.
Yeah you must know all the tips on where to go to get free public charging.
You must be like a human better route planner or like a human EV charging app.
I got them all bookmarked in Google Maps.
Okay this one's good for this one.
This one.
Okay you got free charging here.
Oh this one.
You get free access to the resort but you may have to pay $10 a night for parking indoor charging.
I got it all organized.
So did your family or friends think you were nuts when you said you wanted to start living out of your Tesla?
Oh hell yeah.
Yeah they all thought I was crazy.
Nobody thought it could be done but to be fair nobody had really done it in an EV at the time.
I was one of the first people to do it.
Coincidentally another Tesla employee in California also started in the Model X at pretty much the exact same time as me.
And it was just the two of us at the time.
And this was before there was a custom made beds for the car so I had just had a little fold out mat.
And before camper mode I had to use an app that would trick the car.
It would ping the car every few hours tricking into thinking that I was about to set it into drive to keep the AC or heat on.
And I couldn't use a DC or USB ports.
I had to use external battery packs to charge my phone.
And I can only charge those packs when I was driving.
So very early days of doing it.
Boy that's super cool.
You must be saving a lot on rent and on utilities.
I'm sure there are downsides which I want to hear about.
But like clearly it's working for you because you've been at it for so long.
But yeah like tell me about the positives in your life of deciding to do this.
Yeah so I said before I had such a crappy car.
Nissan Sentra kept breaking down going from a Nissan Sentra to a Tesla.
Huge leap in technology.
The fact that my Tesla gets more software updates than my phone still gets more software updates than my iPhone is.
I don't know if that's a testament to Apple how slow Apple has gone or how fast Tesla is.
But either way it's amazing.
And yeah the fact the positives have been you know I'm saving so much money on not having to pay utilities rents.
I get to just be on my own the freedom to go wherever I want.
I did it for three and a half years in Long Island a year and a half in Orlando.
Then I had to go back to New York which I did a year and a half in Manhattan.
And now I've been in Cape Canaveral for the past year.
And almost every every few days I pretty much wake up and see a rocket.
So I'm on the coolest place on the planet that's helping us get off the planet.
That's cool.
In I mean New York that's like you mentioned it's it gets cold in the winter time.
So yeah like but now I mean now you've got camp camping mode.
So you're able to stay comfortable all night I guess.
Yes for a little while in New York I was actually in a garage like a home garage and I actually did that.
So me and my father we could rent out the rest of the house.
The only way you could do that is if one of the homeowners was living there.
So I say in the garage which had a bathroom and during the winter time let's say would be 30 degrees outside.
It would maybe be 50 degrees in the garage.
So you got a little bit of insulation there and then 50 degrees in the garage that'd be 60 degrees in my Tesla.
And then I would only have to heat it from 60 to like 69 or 70 degrees.
So that helped a little bit for the six months for six months of me living in my Tesla.
So other than that period how are you how are you handling showering personal hygiene that kind of stuff.
Like that's that's sort of the basics that you know you've got to take care of and you look you look very good.
You look very healthy here on camera.
So you must be doing something right.
Yeah.
Planet Fitness.
Thanks to Planet Fitness.
I got the Black Heart membership thousands of locations throughout the entire country.
There's dozens of them that I rotate between here in Cape Canaveral.
And I go to the gym exercise and shower every single morning there wherever I am in the country pretty much.
And sometimes I'll go to my friends or family members houses.
Even when I'm at my friend or family members house stay in the guest bedroom stay stay inside.
I'll sleep in the front of the driveway in my in my own comfy bed.
Boy it's I promise my audience listening.
That was not like a secret stealth ad for Planet Fitness right there even though it could easily be interpreted as one.
But that makes sense.
So you get that you get the premium gym membership on a nationwide chain.
It makes sense.
How about what about like how about nutrition and diet like you don't have anywhere to cook for yourself.
So what's I mean you look like a younger guy.
So you could maybe you know you're you're I'm not sure you know you can you can get away with eating things that maybe somebody at my age can't get away with eating as much.
But yeah what do you what do you do for for food for nutrition.
So I used to have access to a kitchen when I worked in my office in New York City.
So I would microwave or make food there in the kitchen and then walk from my office to my Tesla home.
It's about 20 minute walk away.
But now that I'm out of the office and working remotely.
I got a cooler here right up front of my center console so I could put sandwiches and stuff in there.
But mostly thanks to all the money that I'm saving on gas maintenance.
I haven't spent money on rent utilities.
I just get takeout.
You know I'll get healthy food.
I'll get pizza.
I'll get burgers.
You know I'll eat healthy and unhealthy.
I think I got a good balanced diet.
Take my vitamins every morning and I'm all good.
That's awesome.
I love that.
So are you still in the same 75d Model X or yes.
Okay so same car.
How many miles are on the car at this point.
I think I'm at 210,000.
Wow.
Original battery.
Yeah original high voltage battery pack.
Yeah 209454.
Wow.
Just replace a 12 volt a couple of times.
But I got the lithium one by third party company which is keeping my camper mode powered a lot more reliably than the lead acid ones.
How about have you had any incidents with the car?
Has anybody you know been any anybody hit you any accidents any like have you had to deal with that at all?
Because obviously you know you need the car to function and you need it to presumably look you know you want it to look nice.
But hopefully you've had good luck in that department.
Yes very good luck.
So no major accidents occasionally you got to bring it in for service here and there.
So the heater AC may you know break down after every couple of years but to be fair I'm using it more than pretty much anybody else.
Occasionally yeah I have to bring it into Tesla service.
They provided me loaners a few times so I have slept in a Model S occasionally a Model Y as well.
And I think I got I did sleep in a cyber truck one night as well.
And then casually you know I think once or twice I stayed inside my mom's or another friend friend's house for a night or two while my Tesla was in was in the service center.
Have you kept track how many sets of tires have you run through in 200 whatever it was 19,000 miles.
So the OEM tires kept going through really fast.
I must have went through two or must have went through four sets three or four sets of the OEM tires until I finally switched the third party sets of tires Michelin's Yokohamas that have good tread warranties.
So the third party tires have been lasting me about 60 70,000 miles each.
Oh wow.
But the OEM tires they would only last me like 20 or 30,000 miles.
Definitely go through them a lot quicker.
And I do keep a spare tire actually.
And amazingly it fits underneath my bed and I'm once with the clothes in the back just in case of any flats.
I have the modern spare there.
Nice.
Oh that's cool.
That's smart too.
Yep.
So do you tend to hang out or I mean you I guess you kind of went over this but you mentioned Cape Canaveral for the past year but within an area whether it's Orlando, New York now Cape Canaveral.
Do you tend to kind of hang around in one area or do you different from day to day do you just drive to different neighborhoods different areas like what's what's kind of your let's call it weekly routine look like.
Yes, I like to stick to one city for for the most case I have my on my PO box is actually literally a block away from the super charging station that I stay at a lot there's about a dozen charging stations within within a 30 mile radius of Cape Canaveral.
That I usually rotate between so I'm not usually staying at the same place twice.
And yeah occasionally go to Orlando is probably where I go to the second most I keep my storage unit there so that way it's away from the coast it's away from the hurricanes.
It's cheaper cheaper insurance so keep that inland.
And then I love also going down to the keys as well there's so many great resorts down there it's like the Hawaii of Florida down there.
And then once once a year I do a big long road trip.
I just did a month long road trip to the northeastern part of the country upstate New York New Hampshire Vermont.
I went to the eastern most point in Maine and then last year I did a road trip to Yellowstone.
Wow.
And yeah I stay pretty much a whole month in Yellowstone and thanks to my star like many I was able to work remotely the entire time.
Oh that's so cool.
We know I I hope this isn't too personal a question but with with regard to your job that you've got now with like the HR paperwork.
Do you have an address to give them for like your all that sort of legal paperwork paychecks and all that stuff like how how's that go.
Yeah P.O. Box you just use the P.O. Box's dress and I'm a legal resident I get voting privileges right here in the superior state of Florida.
Nice.
Oh that's cool boy.
So I got to ask the other side.
So talk to me about any downsides.
You're clearly happy doing this.
So the positives are outweighing the negatives but there are there certainly there have to be tradeoffs like what can you talk to me kind of about about some of the some of the downsides to doing this.
Yes.
So at first you know there wasn't a lot of charging stations around.
So I only had to go all the way out of my way to go to the charging stations to either stay at or go between my friends and family.
I didn't have a gym membership back then so it can only shower at friends and family or you know public restroom facilities.
But yeah it's gotten better and better over time.
I still wish of course I would love to have my own private bathroom.
I had that when I was in the garage instead of having to go go over to the gyms.
And then you occasionally you know somebody might get suspicious like why is this electric car doing here in the parking lot.
But that's very rare and like in about eight years I've maybe got about eight knocks on the door.
So once a year I got to worry about somebody getting suspicious.
But very rare because it's completely blacked out and private in the car.
And now a lot of people get suspicious about an electric car and electric car charging station.
Especially if I'm staying at a level two charger which is meant to be parked there overnight.
Right.
Has anyone ever called the cops on you?
Never.
Not at all.
Okay good.
Yeah.
I'm staying at pretty safe places and supercharging station.
Pretty much you could stay at any supercharger station reliably and no one will bother you.
Good.
Glad to hear that.
Maybe this is one more.
This might also be too personal a question but curious does living out of your Model X does it affect your ability to date people?
Not really.
It hasn't been that much of an issue.
You can actually sleep two medium sized people comfortably in the back of my Model X for people uncomfortably.
Two people in the front seats probably wouldn't recommend that.
But yeah no it hasn't really affected my dating life.
Good.
I don't kiss and tell in the Tesla.
But yeah I love doing it and I know people who have long term relationships.
No issues and in fact there's a couple of people who have been married and been living in their Teslas for many years.
Wow that's cool.
If you could change anything about your Model X what would it be?
Let's see.
Definitely would love to have full cell driving fully ready so that way I can just go in the back and sleep and wake up in my destination.
I do have hardware 3 so I'm still hopeful that'll happen one day.
Yeah.
But yeah if I could bring FSD closer to reality I would definitely do so.
But I'm also waiting to hold out to upgrade to an even bigger Tesla or a different type of EV living situation.
You know you got the Tesla Model YL possibly coming to the US.
Maybe Tesla will tweak the Cybertruck so you can have camp remote in the Cyber Vault.
Or maybe we'll get that Cyber SUV that we saw in the master plan video.
The little model there or maybe the Reboven will be practical to live in as well.
Or there's these EV trailers like Pebble or Lightship that might be worth something upgrading to.
But yeah I've been doing it for almost eight years now.
It just keeps getting better and better with software updates.
I get new accessories and I plan on doing it, continue doing it for a long term.
I mean 200 plus thousand miles.
We've seen Teslas are fully capable of that.
You're on your original battery which is just again a testament to how good these cars are.
But have you started thinking about kind of the medium maybe the longer term of what's next?
Because the car as well as it's treated you it's not going to last forever.
Yes.
So I have an eight year infinite mile battery and drivetrain warranty.
That is still good until March of next year.
So I still got another six months on it.
So at that point around that time I'm going to be making a decision as to whether to upgrade to something.
So maybe Tesla will have made some tweaks to the Cybertruck.
Maybe we'll have the Cyber SUV Model YL.
So I'll definitely consider those options or consider trying to track down an extended warranty that will still cover me at over 200,000 miles.
So maybe Xcare will make an exception for me there.
Well, they should be listening to this.
So yeah, reach out and just tell them Ryan sent you and see if they can do anything.
I'm a customer of theirs and it's been a good experience.
I promise that's not an ad either.
But I just actually am a customer.
But have you had a chance to either at least sit in or even drive and experience the new Model X, the latest version of it?
I saw the refresh before.
I've been in the refresh before that.
So the one from six months ago.
I haven't been on the latest one, which is technically was a point one inches bigger now.
So a little bit more living space in there.
And the fact that there is you can get free supercharging still with the Luxe package.
So that's that's definitely a requirement in order to make a Tesla van life very affordable because that unlimited heat and air conditioning.
I must have saved tens of thousands of dollars to that perk.
Plus, of course, that Luxe package.
If you did upgrade, you'd get AI for and then you'd have full blown FSD version, at least for now version 14, right?
So that's got to be a little testing as well.
Yes, a little bit, a little bit.
Definitely.
Have you driven?
Have you had a chance to test out an AI for car with either FSD 13 or super recently, obviously FSD 14?
I had.
I did the Cybertruck recently hardware for.
But of course, some of the FSD features are limited compared to the Model Y and Model 3.
But yeah, Cybertruck definitely handled pretty well on FSD, especially around here in Cape Canaveral.
Still not practical to live in as you can't.
There's no ingress and egress into the vault.
No heater AC back there.
It's not water sealed or tight.
I'd want to be able to reach in and out between the vault and the cabin.
And not have to climb out of the cabin and then climb into the back of the vault.
Yeah, so definitely we need a midgate.
There is a third party companies that kind of like a breezer window in which you can run a PVC pipe into the back there.
But still won't be able to reach in and out, grab stuff there or be watertight back there.
Makes sense.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Gosh, in your many years now and 200 plus thousand miles, I imagine you've met a lot of people on your travels.
Just, you know, not necessarily friends, but just random people that you've probably talked to.
Yeah.
Met.
And I imagine you've probably converted a few doubters or naysayers in your time as well just from sharing your story and experience.
Yeah.
I've definitely maxed out my referral link more than a couple of times.
Good.
And it's not just me who's been living in my Tesla.
I've met dozens.
If not, there might have been up to 100 people who either are doing it or have been doing it at one time living in their Tesla.
I've definitely tracked how they've been doing it the longest.
But there's other people out there like me who have been doing it and love it just as much as I do.
In fact, I just started a cyber podcast with a few of them.
Jimmy, who's been doing it in Canada.
Sandro, he's on his way to the tip of South America.
Wow.
In his Model X.
He put a little, he put like a modified solar panel on the hood of his Model X.
So it powers his batteries and electronics on the inside.
And then Nico Morello, he's on a 50-state road trip in his Model X.
So he's going to every state in the country.
That's cool.
Is he just going to bite the bullet and ship the car to Hawaii to check that one off?
Yeah.
I was thinking, I'm not sure how he's doing Hawaii.
My idea for Hawaii is drive from Florida to California.
Then unpack my dream case bed, which folds into a suitcase, fly from California to Hawaii, then rent a Tesla in Hawaii.
And then put that bed in that Tesla and sleep in that Tesla.
Well, I'm glad.
Yeah.
I was just going to ask.
So you mentioned how you'd started this long before the runny sort of custom mattresses made for the backs of Teslas.
So have you tried them all besides that one you just mentioned?
That must have made your life, your quality of life go up significantly with these third-party companies that are putting out these Tesla-specific mattresses now.
Yes.
In the beginning, there was no custom-made mattress for the Model X.
So I was just using full-down mats and blow-up mattresses that are meant for inside or outdoors, sleeping bags and stuff.
But then this company Dream Case, which was already one of the first companies to make a custom-made bed for Tesla at the time only the Model S,
they sent me one of the first ones for the Model X.
And it was the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in or out of a car.
They went above and beyond for me there.
I have tried out a few others here and there, but I keep going back to the OG Dream Case, which is just so comfortable.
And then, I guess it could be also psychological as well.
If you're sleeping in a strange place, you wake up in the middle of the night wondering, where am I?
And then you have to convince yourself, oh, OK, I'm in a safe place.
And then you can directly control the heat and air conditioning just using the app on my phone.
I got the speakers in the back there so I could target the surround sound back to where I'm laying down when I'm watching movies or shows.
And the fact that you're in a vehicle that's five-star crash safety rated makes you feel really safe.
You sleep in a house, God forbid, a tree falls on the house and comes crashing into your bedroom.
You hear that happening in people all the time.
That happens on the car.
At least you got airbags, it's steel, it's meant to withstand accidents going many miles per hour.
So it'll probably protect you and you'd probably be able to just get out and just drive away.
Yeah, and not to mention that you've got a surround camera system watching out for you with Century Mode,
which of course was added after you bought your car for free.
I'm in that boat too.
That came after I got on Model 3.
Century Mode, it's got to feel a little extra secure having Century Mode run as well, right?
Yeah, exactly.
Being able to access the cameras, check my surroundings, see what's going on.
That's definitely a game changer.
I do have little on my privacy shades, little things that can pop out and I kind of peek through,
but it's still kind of hard to see.
Having that 360 view with my Tesla dash cams or my third-party dash cams definitely helps me sleep better at night.
It must be kind of nice.
I don't know if you're a side sleeper, a back sleeper,
but it must be nice kind of having those little falcon wing portal windows to look up through at the sky at night, right?
Yes, I mostly sleep head to trunk though.
So maybe 10% of the time, I'll sleep head to seat,
but because I have a month's worth of clothes in the back of the trunk,
which creates like a natural arc in the back, which I put my pillow on.
So most of the time, I'm sleeping head to trunk and I'm looking up at the trunk glass,
which has a few layers of sunshades and tint on it.
I can't pop that out, of course, if I want to get a nice view of the stars as well.
And then on one of my falcon wing door glasses, I have a starling mini actually snaps in perfectly there.
Oh, nice.
No special modifications don't have to use like the suction cup or anything.
The starling mini just snaps in perfectly there.
So you're rocking high speed internet wherever you go.
Yeah, exactly.
So I have the starling mini as my backup or activate the unlimited data plan on my month long rural road trips.
But I have an Android phone in which I have grandfathered into unlimited 5G hotspot with Team Elite.
Sweet. Oh, that's cool.
And they use that primarily for internet.
Well, you've figured out all the little life hacks to do this.
Yeah.
You've really mastered it.
That's super cool.
So I guess I think I've just got one or two more questions here for you because it has been fascinating to me just to learn about your story.
And you just seem like a really cheerful guy.
Like you're clearly happy doing this.
And that's because for some people, it would probably terrify them the idea of living out of their car for any amount of time.
You seem like you're happy.
You're living a good life.
Yeah.
You have to find things you love in this world.
And I found the car and home all in one.
I love it.
Oh, that's Tesla should use that.
That should be a marketing slogan.
That should be in a commercial right there.
That was awesome.
So yeah, I mean, you guys down there in Florida, you've got sun year round, but you certainly also get plenty of rain as well.
And I'm curious as the president of the local Tesla owners Club in Florida, is your season of events year round?
Or are there kind of a couple of windows where where you need to avoid and kind of what are besides those those big, you know, mega events that you mentioned at the beginning of our conversation?
What are some of the the more the other kind of more quote unquote regular events that that your club gets up to down there?
You know, it's pretty much sunshine year round down here with occasional hurricanes and storms.
Very rarely.
We've had some good luck that we have to cancel postpone or reschedule anything due to some storms.
For example, we're looking on planning an event and Christmas here and which we're going to go on the beach with all of our Teslas.
And then from there, drive to Daytona Speedway, in which there's a special like Christmas light setup, which you could partially drive under the grandstands with all these Christmas lights and decorations.
We'll do a big, beautiful Tesla light show.
I'm actually working on writing and making a cover version of the 12 days of Christmas song.
Oh, cool.
The 12 days of Tesla miss on the first day of Tesla miss you on gave to me a roadster with ludicrous speed working on that.
That might be the last day that the roadster might be the last day.
I might have to switch it around right now.
I think I have might have to switch that to the 12th day.
Oh, that's so cool.
Last question for you and it's not necessarily related to anything about the Tesla van life.
But you did mention the SpaceX launches earlier and I've had the pleasure as millions of people have of watching them on live stream.
But watching a SpaceX launch in person happening in front of you with your own eyes.
Obviously, you're from a safe distance.
Like, what's it like watching in front of you?
The boosters and the ships come back down to earth and land.
I mean, just can you just as a human being, I'm curious how like how that is to watch.
It's inspiring.
I must have seen at least 20 or 30 in the past year.
One time I saw two and one day from a lazy river.
I don't think you watch rocket launch from a lazy river anywhere else on earth other than Cape Canaveral.
So it's inspiring.
You know, I've also been to Starbase in Texas.
And when I saw the starship for the first time, I said to myself, I'm going to the moon one day.
Maybe not Mars, but I'm definitely going to the moon one day.
And seeing them take off and land and seeing the the the chopsticks tower is pretty much done.
If not already done here at Cape Canaveral in which we're going to get our own starship launches probably within a year.
It's beyond exciting.
Yeah, super cool.
Well, Carson Gallo, Tesla van lifer.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story with me and keep doing what you're doing, man.
I just I you're going to have to check in like if and when you decide to change cars.
I've got to know what you end up doing.
I got you.
Keep in touch, my friend.
Thanks for having me on my good man.
I really appreciate the good combo.
You got it.
And you want to give yourself a plug either for your new podcast, your van life or podcast that you mentioned.
Go ahead and feel free to promote anything here before we say goodbye.
Yeah, yeah.
Feel free if you guys want to learn more about my Tesla van life experience as well as the others who are doing Tesla van life.
Come check out our cyber podcast on Tesla owners, Florida's YouTube channel.
Come meet and see me at some of our events that we're doing throughout the state.
Coming up in the next couple of months, we got the cyber fest in furious.
We got the magic of lights in Daytona, a grand opening of Tesla's new location in Orlando and so much more is out there.
And if you're looking to get into a Tesla financing refinancing, let me know.
My company at Tenant EV Finance, we may be able to help you out there.
Good stuff.
Carson, thanks so much.
Thanks so much, my good man.
Until next time.
Big thanks to Carson for taking the time.
I hope all of you enjoyed that conversation.
I really did.
Like I was saying at the top, I went in having never properly met him before, but just had a little bit of background on his story.
And I came out having really been really been interested in it and in what he has to say.
And just he just seems to be a happy go lucky guy, which which is great.
That's, you know, that you love meeting those kinds of people.
This week, I do not have time to get to the ride the lightning hotline because the interview took up most of the podcast there.
But if you've got a Tesla or EV related question, comment or discussion topic, feel free to call in with it and I will get back to your phone calls on next week's episode.
So there are two easy ways to call in.
Either use your smartphone's built-in voice recording software, record your question.
I politely ask that you try to keep it to 90 seconds or less so that I can get to as many callers each week as possible.
And then email that file to me at teslapodcastatgmail.com
Or you can take that same 90 second or less question and just call in and leave a message on the ride the lightning hotline.
It's a toll free number dial at any time and that number is 1-888-989-8752.
And if it's a little easier to remember this way, it's 1-888-989-TSLA.
And if you know someone special out there with an upcoming birthday anniversary graduation or some other special occasion,
you can give them a unique gift of recorded voices from friends and family telling them why they're special.
The recordings can be podcasted like I do with them, or put onto a keepsake.
Visit lifeonrecord.com to learn more.
Well, I'm obviously not doing much with my Tesla this week because I'll be out of town,
but I'm looking forward to cleaning both cars when I get back.
If the weather permits, we have officially entered our rainy season here in the San Francisco Bay Area.
So there are times when it just doesn't make sense to wash the car if there's more rain coming,
but I'll hopefully be able to get them both cleaned up before too long.
How about an entertainment recommendation?
I guess technically I can't recommend this yet because I haven't watched it,
but as I've been downloading some stuff to watch on the flight, on my flights coming up,
I downloaded this new Netflix mini series.
I think it's four episodes called Death by Lightning.
So it looked interesting just reading the little description on the Netflix app.
I'm going to give that a try and hopefully it's good.
So I guess don't consider this a recommendation.
Like if you watch it and it's bad, I guess maybe it's half my fault for sort of recommending it to you,
but I'm going to give it a try.
Hopefully it's good.
What's definitely good though is this week's Tesla Pro Tip of the Week.
Big thanks to Hank from South Louisiana for calling in with it and it is a pro tip for FSD version 14.
Go ahead Hank.
Greetings Ryan and EV enthusiasts.
This is Hank from South Louisiana.
I have a pro tip for FSD 14.
With previous versions of FSD, you switched modes using the left-right thumb wheel
and fine-tuned the speed with the scroll wheel.
With FSD 14, the speed fine-tuning with the scroll wheel feature was removed.
I believe I have a workaround.
Say you're in standard mode and FSD is going a bit too fast for your liking.
Switch the chill and as the vehicle slows down to the speed you want to go, switch back to standard.
FSD will now use that speed.
It also works if you want to speed the vehicle up a bit.
Go from the mode you're in to the next faster mode.
When you get to the speed you want, go back to your original mode.
Granted I've only tried it on four lane divided highways so I don't know yet how it will work on surface streets.
Hopefully this helps the user experience with FSD 14.
Thanks.
Excellent suggestion here Hank.
Thank you so much for calling in with this one.
I'm actually going to put this one to use myself in my newer Model 3 that's got FSD version 14.
So that's a good one.
We all just continue to adapt a little bit to each FSD version.
Each version is definitely getting better but then Tesla changes stuff
and we all kind of have to move and react to it to help it
to get the most out of it for each of our individual preferences and desires.
If anybody else out there has a good Tesla pro tip of the week
I'd love to hear it so that I can share it with everybody else
and we can all expand our collective Tesla and EV knowledge base.
So if you've got something that you'd like to share
you can call in with it the same way that you call in with a regular ride to lightning hotline call
which I gave you the instructions for just a few minutes ago.
Before I let you go this week I just want to mention a few friends of the podcast
that can hopefully be useful to you at some point sooner or later
perhaps sooner depending on whether or not some of these guys are still running Black Friday promotions
by the time you hear this.
There is of course AbstractOcean.com
they've got a million great and million is barely an exaggeration honestly
they've got so many great aftermarket accessories for all the Teslas
and for the Rivians as well if you happen to be a Rivian owner
check them out at AbstractOcean.com
the rear footwell lighting kits are a nice add-on
particularly for the Model Y in my opinion because the seats are on risers
and that's either Model Y the new one or the first generation version
there's also the fourth generation tempered glass screen protectors
that are super popular
they have an anti-microbial coating
and they use a luminosilicate glass
which is the same stuff that Corning uses for Gorilla Glass
they are custom fit they're great
they ship with an installation frame to make installation
make sure you're lining everything up properly
nice and easy totally simple to do
and there's a lifetime guarantee on those tempered glass screen protectors
if it's damaged in the line of duty
so take a look at everything they've got over at AbstractOcean.com
and make sure when you get to check out with everything you like in your shopping cart
use the coupon code RTLPodcast
to get 15% off of your first order
that coupon code again RTLPodcast
all one word no spaces
next up the snap plate and the newer
stronger snap plate plus
available for not just all the Teslas
but the Rivians and plenty of other EVs as well
you got to check them out over at EveryAmp.com
slash RTL
and the EveryAmp folks are very kindly offering a discount
to all of you that ride the Lightning listeners as well
when you get to check out with whatever you'd like to purchase
simply enter the coupon code RTL
so what would you buy there
primarily the front license plate brackets of theirs
that snap on and off in seconds
but when they're on they're on there nice and secure
but if you want to take them off
for detailing the car
or for a car's in coffee
something like that
it won't leave any unsightly anything behind
unlike the license plate frames
that Tesla gives you for the front of your car
which for the most part most of them
are stuck to the front of the car with automotive adhesive
yikes if that ever
if you ever want to take that off
you're going to have a rough time
so I recommend never putting that on
and instead get the snap plate
either the regular snap plate
or the stronger snap plate plus
they're both available at EveryAmp.com
slash RTL
and use the coupon code RTL
for a discount
if you're in or going to be in
the Greater San Francisco Bay Area
treat your car treat yourself
well I mean you'll be treating yourself
but it's your car
the car is what's getting the spa treatment
over at Immaculate Reflections
paint protection film
ceramic coating
paint correction any of that
some of that all of that
it's all good it's all going to make your car
look and stay beautiful
I am very much a believer
I'm very much a customer
of Immaculate Reflections
I'm super proud
to have Immaculate Reflections
having done both of our Teslas
they both look great
the Spirit of Adventure R218
that lives outside now
still looks incredible
it still looks great
thanks to all of the protective work
that Immaculate Reflections
has done for me
it's been well worth the money
I'll say that
so go to the website
irdetailing.com
you'll see the contact button right there
you can reach out
and get an estimate
tell Immaculate Reflections
what you're looking for
and maybe what your budget is
you'll talk to Jeff
you'll work through
what's going to make the most sense for you
and then just make sure to mention
the Lightning Listener Discount
extended to you
thank you to Jeff at Immaculate Reflections
for continuing to offer that
to my wonderful audience
the Patreon
I mentioned it at the top
I'll mention it again here real quick
patreon.com
that's how you can support the podcast
if you'd like to
it is the holiday season
so if you're in a gift giving mood
maybe now is the time where you decide
and the support tiers start
at just 5 bucks a month
or if you want to do an annual pledge
pay once to support
for an entire year
I offer you a 10% discount
on the annual pledge
as a way to say thank you
for very kindly showing
a full year of support
you can head on over again
to patreon.com
to see all the details
and to sign up at whichever
tier makes the most sense for you
all the tiers have
perks and bonuses
and they stack as you go so the higher you go
the more perks and bonuses
that you get
and if you're not already following
this podcast on your favorite
podcast service I do recommend that
it's totally free and the reason to do that
is because you'll get a push notification
every time a new episode drops
which in the case of my podcast
is every Sunday at
9am eastern 6am pacific
so just search
ride the lightning Tesla
on any of the big podcast services
I'm talking about Apple podcasts
Spotify, tune in
Google podcasts
and YouTube podcasts
I think Google podcasts, did they get rid of that
I can't remember
statistically most of you get it from Apple podcasts
but definitely
YouTube podcast is the thing now as well
anyhow search
and if you're doing Tesla
you should see this podcast pop right up in the search results
click follow
and that's it, you're done
and don't forget you can email me anytime
teslapodcast
at gmail.com
and if you'd like to follow me on either
X and or Instagram
I have the same username on both
and that username is
DMC underscore Ryan
of course a reference
to the DeLorean that I owned for many years
so check me out on social if that's of interest
and
on email if you've got something to reach out to me
on email about as well
lastly this week
allow me to say hello and thank you
to the top tier Patreon backers
I'll start with the maximum
plaid tier we've got ourselves
another monthly Patreon zoom
hangout coming up as this episode
drops I'll be aiming
for this next weekend into the
6th to the 7th I gotta just take a look
at my calendar and see so look
for those of you in the
top tier of the Patreon
one of the top tiers
you'll be getting an email
a calendar invite and a Patreon post
with all the information about that
very very soon but
for now saying hello to the
maximum plaid backers
Jonathan Wales, Cameron Clark
Daniel Grummer, Seth Cappello
Nick and Tony, the Galpin family
Ryan from New York City
Darren Nickel, Cos Barnes
Patrick Wisnesky
Gil Cabrera, Todd Badger
Joe Edgel, Kevin Yank
the Tesla Owners Club of San Joaquin
Valley, Will Steadman
Jeremy Harris, Chris Beech
Tom Mills
Cory O'Donnell, Aaron
John Cody, Joel Sapp
Paul Casarino
Chris Osborn
KB, Adam Lavoie
Jason Chalukis, Travis Crenzel
Bruce Otterstein
Tom Behan, Josh Pennington
John from Cream Ridge, New Jersey
Dustin Hart
Derek Finley, Charles Clement
Damon Klein
Jeff Brown, Jerry Slinger
Kenneth Corbett, Brian Bertoglio
Kim Bae
Troy Sievers, Chip Hooper
Matt Chinander, Robert Moran
Rob, Christopher Mann
and Michael Williams
Next up
An extra big thanks goes out to
the Roadster in Space tier
the top, top, top tier of the Patreon
Thank you so much
for your generosity to Pete White
Lyle Austin, Steve Radspinner
Fernando Cordero
Lawton from Chicago
Sean Knightig, Neil Weaver
Jackson Wallace, Rolf and Jennifer Evers
Howard Anthony Smith
Victoria Aya-Covetto
Tesla Hitchhiker 42
Carol Weston, Robert from near Philly
American Home Contractors
Doug Carey, Michael Gallo
and Tony Figueroa
And last but most certainly
not least, the grandfathered
in plaid level supporters
Thank you to George Casciopo
Logan Willis
Peter Chalet, Eric Randolph
Dori and Steve Guberman
The Tesla Owners Club of Taiwan
Ron Lee, Charlie Gillespie
Jeff Angwin
Chase Cabaneas, The Lydia Family
Aaron Altschul, Jared Brown
Jerome Strack
Jamie Dalton
Mike and Barbara from Louisville
Matt Nixon
The Tesla Owners Club of Wisconsin
Ish, not Elon Musk
Peter
and the Bear Boys of Colorado
That'll wrap it up
for your 539th episode
of Ride the Lightning
your weekly Tesla and EV podcast
We are officially
heading into the last month of the year
I guess
they really do get faster
as you get older
because each year
is a smaller percentage of your life
than the previous year was
This year is flying by
but looking forward to the holiday season
and I hope all of you
are doing well
are happy
are healthy
and yeah
and thank you for sticking with me
thanks for listening to the podcast
your time and attention are
very precious resources
that I definitely do not take for granted
so thank you, thank you so much
happy electric motoring my friends
and I'll see you back here next week
Elon Musk
Elon Musk
people don't like Elon Musk
the guy found a PayPal and Tesla
and people were like yeah but he's a troll and a bad dad
I'm like so was mine
he did nothing to fight climate change
also have you been in a Tesla
have you been in a Tesla
my buddy let me drive his Tesla
I laughed out loud
at how fast it went
on dozens of medications
in a Tesla for 13 seconds
cured forever
I mean I think
a Tesla
is the most fun thing
you could possibly buy ever
that's what it's meant to be
our goal is to make
it's
it's not exactly a car
it's actually a thing
to maximize enjoyment
that's maximum fun
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