Behind the scenes of the Tesla Secret Level III event, the launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy

April 22, 2019 by Paul Fosse

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Although we at CleanTechnica have already published an article on the launch of Falcon Heavy, I decided to write also about what I learned during this event.

Why go to the launch?

There are many answers to this question, but the first answer is FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out. I did not know what this event would entail, but since I was invited, I did not want to miss the opportunity. Similar thoughts were going through my mind at the unveiling of Model Y a month earlier. My tax return is due in a few days. My project at work could use my attention. Some members of my family are still recovering from the operation. But it would be an excuse to spend time with my son (who lives conveniently in Orlando).

I have been living in Florida for almost 30 years and have never seen a launch. Would Elon Musk be present at the event and could I meet him in person? With all these thoughts in my mind, the deciding factor was that the event was a Level 3 secret Tesla event and, with few exceptions, only people with 35 or more references would be present. This would be a much smaller event than the unveiling of Model Y (which had about 700 people) and, according to this site, about 120 people worldwide were qualified. I knew with the work schedules and the delays inherent in space launches that many people could not do it.

My logic was correct and it was a small event of less than 100 people. The small size (and the fact that the launch has been delayed) has allowed me to spend more time meeting the incredible people who have helped promote Tesla in recent years.

Bus trip to Cape Canaveral

Although it would have been more convenient for me to drive to Cape Canaveral than to meet the group of Tesla enthusiasts in Orlando and get to the bus event, I decided to take the bus for two reasons. First, I wanted more time to socialize with the group. Second, I was concerned about the traffic and I did not want to miss the launch because I found myself caught in traffic, I was wrong direction or I had trouble finding the event.

It ended up being a wise decision. The first person I met was a skilled trauma surgeon who had been working with Tesla for longer than me and who was willing to say how these events usually happen. He had brought a picture and a sharpie, in case we had a chance to meet Elon (unfortunately, it did not happen). He shared stories of other Tesla events he had attended and realized that these events were quite special if important people like him gave them time.

We arrive at the tour of exploration

We arrived at the event and found that they had rented a 7-story tower just for our group. They also called on a SpaceX launch engineer to present the upcoming launch and answer any questions we had. I was confused as to why SpaceX was developing two rockets of similar power – the Falcon Heavy and the Starship (formerly called Big Falcon Rocket or BFR) – so I asked Trip about it and it was said that the difference was that the Falcon Heavy was built using well tested parts, while the Starship is the next generation that uses new technologies that hopefully will be great, but are not yet ready for production.

As the launch was delayed from 18:30 to 20:30 (before being delayed from 22 hours until the next day), we had plenty of time to enjoy the food and drinks served during the day. event.

Influencers

Enough details about the event – what I learned about the people who are promoting Tesla (most of them for years).

They were divided into 4 main groups (as usual, I do not fit in any of them).

1. YouTubers have done a lot to promote Tesla and to convey the message that Tesla makes excellent cars. Andy Slye, LikeTesla and Ben Sullins were among the biggest YouTubers of the event. So it's not surprising that they all made videos about the event – that's what they do. They did a great job of capturing the event, so watch their videos. I liked meeting them and learning some tricks. Concentrate on your unique perspective and do not try to outdo the professionals, this is the best advice I received from Ben. In addition to Ben, it was obvious when discussing with Kim and Andy why they had hit channels; they have a real interest for Tesla, a great charisma and have acquired the technical skills to make a quality product.
2. Veterans Community members, like the surgeon I mentioned earlier, have been part of the Tesla community since the beginning. They bought the original Roadster and most bought the S and / or X and maybe even the 3rd as each of them came out. Like the YouTubers, they do not have 100,000 followers, but they talk about Tesla to their friends and co-workers for 10 years. They were fans of Tesla before it was cool. They followed society through difficult times and remained loyal to Tesla.
3. Tenants (who generally use the Turo platform) have helped people feel the thrill of electric vehicles, especially Teslas, and more recently Model 3. A car as different from anything else on the market, the model 3 is hard to accept with a short two mile test drive; the fact that many people have decided to put their car on Turo to let it try has led many people a little more cautious to buy a Tesla. The best advice I've received from this group is: "You do not want to be the cheapest Tesla in your market." This is due to the fact that the buyer who focuses solely on the Price may not be the type of renter you wish to drive. I've used the Turo platform in the past and I've had some problems with last minute cancellations. Turo has now instituted cancellation fees that discourage cancellations and have largely eliminated this problem. It's cool to hear.
4. Presidents of Tesla Owners' Clubs. I have not been too involved in the Florida Tesla Enthusiasts club, but I am a member and attended a ceremony. I have been very involved in organizing groups of parents of students and teachers and some political groups. So I understand what a thankless job can be to lead groups of volunteers. There is some overlap with the veterans mentioned above, but some of these presidents are more recent than the veterans. I have not spent as much time as I should have with this band, but I will not fail to watch these guys at the next event.

Conclusion

The launch was a great success for SpaceX and this two day event was a great opportunity for me to connect with incredibly talented people. I would also like to congratulate the Tesla team who organized the event. They organized a first class event and had to deal with the uncertainty of a launch in space and three delays in total. All the while, they never complained and stayed one hundred percent making each experience an experience of their lives.

I'm happy to have had the chance to attend this event and learn from all those people who know more than me about Tesla. The reason I can attend this event is that our publisher and my mentor, Zachary Shahan, encouraged me to share my passion for Tesla with CleanTechnica readers *. I am grateful to all the readers who bought Tesla vehicles because of my work and especially to those who used my referral code, which allowed me to be invited to such events.

If you want to take advantage of my Tesla referral link to get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging on a Tesla Model S, Model X or Model 3, here is the code: https://ts.la/paul92237 (but as I l I said before, if another owner helped you more, please use his link instead of mine). I encourage you to buy before May 1st if you believe in Tesla's ability to get the full operation of the Autopilot. Elon said that he would raise prices on May 1 for the FSD, but if you buy now, you will be able to avoid this price increase. I just ordered the Y model today because I know I want a Y model with a file system, so I might as well order now (you can not use a referral code for that, but that's the car I want).

*Editor's Note: Paul was generous enough to drive his Tampa Model 3 to give me my first ride in the transforming vehicle. After meeting him, because of his long enthusiasm for electric vehicles (he bought a Nissan LEAF many years ago) and because I learned his software expertise, I asked him for He wanted to write an article for us on a Tesla autopilot update. Obviously, he did a good job to make the most of the opportunity!

Keywords: SpaceX, the man of the stars, Tesla