11/30/2025
It looks like a mess, and in fact, it is, but I've got the battery and gas generators installed, and everything is working. I can control every circuit in the trailer and have several days' worth of backup power for everything but the roaster, which requires a gas generator at the moment, but will be replace with a 2nd battery and inverter that will allow me to run the entire mobile roastery on battery. Solar panels on the roof will be added soon!
My original plan was to get a 200amp charging station installed at my office in New Port Richey. I had a certified electrician do all of the permits, drawings... and submitted to Pasco County nearly 2 months ago. I'd been getting a lot of run-around asking questions about the "food truck" (it's not a food truck, it's a mobile roastery! lol).
I had a Teams meeting with Pasco County, Florida, Government last week, and was told in no uncertain terms, they feel it is their job to, "protect brick and mortar businesses from unfair competition" and I'm not joking. It's illegal and I'll fight it if they persist, but I'll be forced to move to Pinellas County (Tarpon Springs) if they don't allow the charging station permit, and I only have a few days to decide because of my current lease. It's absolutely disgusting behavior that violates that law on charging stations which is regulated by the state and explicitly prohibits attaching additional permit requirements just because of one of the many different EV's that will be using one of the two charging stations, is a battery operated coffee trailer, and this is too much of a threat to "brick and mortar" businesses to allow in Pasco County, according to them. I believe it is the same issue they had with Blockbuster, and that is the property tax revenue a physical store generates that you don't get from a mobile roastery.
I thought the days of our government, "protecting brick and mortar businesses" was over when the lost the Blockbuster vs. Netflix war, and we all know who won that fight. And literally, the only "brick and mortar" business with food services is a strip club, which they apparently want to protect more than a veteran owned mobile roastery. '26 is an election year, so I'll revisit it with them after the New Year from Pinellas County where it will be harder for them to mess with me, because if they will do this to me, they'll definitely mess with me any way they want.