On March 9th, 2024, DVTOC presented a "Crash Course" EV first responder workshop to over 80 firefighters in Jackson, NJ. Two of the club volunteers had traveled to New Jersey from Denmark with the primary purpose of participating in our Crash Course. This is their story.

We are 2 Danish Tesla fans, Nicklas Nielsen and Morten Christiansen. Each of us own a 2019 Tesla Model 3 Dual Motor. On a daily basis, we work with roadside assistance and tow service in the company Copenhagen Autotransport, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Morten is the owner of the company (see photo) and Nicklas is a car mechanic and tow truck driver. The company provides roadside service to Tesla owners, who order assistance through Tesla Roadside Assistance, thereby increasing our interest in Tesla. Tesla is a very popular car in Denmark. In 2023 Tesla was the most sold car in Denmark. We have provided assistance for every imaginable need, from a flat tire to a traffic accident. There is not a tow task with Tesla that we cannot handle. We have had a visit to the company by a specialist from Tesla's European head office in the Netherlands who has trained us in the correct handling in relation to Roadside service and transportation of Tesla cars.

We have twice been to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, CA, and visited the exhibition "Inside Tesla" where we could see the entire history of Tesla, prototype cars, the various Tesla cars over time, the Cybertruck and much more. Morten has also seen the Tesla Gigafactories in Austin, TX and Berlin, Germany. All the times we have been in the USA we have rented a Tesla, either from Hertz or through the Turo app. In the fall of 2023 we were in Las Vegas, NV where we rented a Model X which we drove around, for example, to the Hoover Dam and up and down "The Strip."

But we lacked some knowledge about handling Tesla cars that had been involved in major accidents and fires and searched the internet for courses and came across the DVTO Crash Course and thought it was just what we were looking for. Here we had the opportunity to gain unique knowledge and at the same time be with other passionate Tesla fans. We joined the club and signed up for the course at the fire station in Jackson Township, NJ.

Of course, we couldn't bring our own Teslas, so we booked a Model Y from Hertz and registered with it for the course. As fate would have it Hertz didn't have a Model Y for us when we arrived at Newark airport. We got a Model 3 instead and a $100 off coupon, so we had to find a Model Y on Turo in a hurry. We succeeded and we arrived at the fire station in a white Model Y Performance. We were warmly welcomed by Vivianna and Michael and the other DVTOC members.

Together with fire and police officers, we participated in the technical review of everything related to fires and accidents with Tesla cars. An absolutely fantastic presentation where we gained a lot of new knowledge that we could not have gained in any other way. We gained unique knowledge and feel much better equipped for future tasks with Tesla cars.

After the lunch, we were out in the fire station bays where we got to talk to many of the course participants, where we told them about Tesla, showed them where they found cutting loops, manual door handles, lifting points, access to the low-voltage battery, operation of the screen, the Tesla app and much else. Even though English is not our native language, I thought we did ok, it seemed like everyone understood us and we understood all the questions. When the event was over, we had a chat with several of the local firefighters about their work and told them about how firefighters work in Denmark, since we often work side by side with them in Denmark, with traffic accident.

This Crash Course gave us the knowledge we were looking for and we were simply overwhelmed by the hospitality we met and how well the course was organized, both before the course and the course itself. We will definitely come back later in the year for another of the club's events and read the information emails the club sends out, as well as participate in some of the online events that are held. Thank you so much for an unforgettable experience.

Delaware Valley Tesla Owners Club welcome Nicklas and Morten back to join us for future events (Crash Course or social) and perhaps we can travel to Denmark to learn from their work and experience in towing and roadside support for Teslas. We are sorry that we did not offer them more hospitality because we only learned of their story and travels at the end of the workshop - next time!