SEVA EVUpdate Newsletter August 1995

SEVA EVUpdate Newsletter

August 1995

Editor's note: There are no Meeting Minutes or Board Minutes for this month. We held our yearly picnic intead. We had ALOT of fun and hope you can join us next time!

Presidents Message by Mark Bahlke

Greetings!

I hope you're all having as good a summer as I am. Nothing like a return to health to improve your outlook on life.

I had a really great time at the picnic last month. I hope all of you did as well. Even the sudden failure of my controller did not dampen my spirits. I was completely bowled over by the impressive array of vehicles we had on display. Fourteen vehicles of every shape and color were there to show Sacramento that electric vehicles are here today. I was so excited by this that I decided we have to do this again. We are making preparations to do another EV display next month, September, at South Land Park. I hope we can show the same kind of energy for this event as we did for the picnic. This time, we would like to do a ride and drive, giving rides to the public to take the next step in bringing Electric Vehicles to Sacramento. With the interest showed by the public at the picnic, I know people will be really excited to ride in electric vehicles.

Once again, this puts the pressure on me to get my car on the road. I have definitely had the bad luck with that the last couple of months. Actually, things were going well after the big "power-up" upgrade. I put over 2,000 miles on the car after that, and then, pffft! No controller. Well, it's in the shop, and should be back in time for the September ride and drive. I just this minute got the scoop from Curtiss PMC, and they are shipping my NEW controller today! I have been given an upgraded controller, the 1221C as a replacement for my burnt 1221B. So it goes back in the car next week!

In the mean time, there has been alot of progress at home. SMUD has installed solar panels on my roof, through the PV pioneer program, and I found a good deal on the Ryobi cordless electric lawnmower (with a Craftsman label). So we are nearly completely electric, and mostly cordless! This is what it takes.

At every opportunity to make an improvement, we must try. As the bumper sticker says, "Think globally, act locally." That is what we're doing here in Sacramtento with electric vehicles.

It appears that our little niche of technology is on it's way to becoming a political football, with various politicians weaving in and out, trying to see if they can stay friends with the big oil interests, and keep them happy. Meanwhile, GM is reluctantly being forced to admit that the public LOVES the Impact, and if this is what the future of electric vehicles looks like, then they are ready! This comes as no surprise to me, and it shouldn't to GM, but they are having a difficult time putting the "EVs won't work and the public won't buy them" spin on their data from the Impact prEView.

Please, be aware that we are engaged in changing a way of life in this country, and that all change must come with a great deal of honest sincere effort. Keep informed on these issues. Send mail to your favorite (or least favorite) government representatives. Buy Electric powered products to replace gasoline burners. It doesn't HAVE to be a car, but that's good too. Check around in SEVA, we have several members with vehicles for sale, and a good car can be had for a very good price. Look for those opportunities - don't make them look for you.

See you all next month. Mark Bahlke

The Lawnmower Man by Dave Robinson

After seeing Steve Smith's mower (SEVA treasurer) at Earth Day in Roseville this year, I decided I had to have one. Less noise and less obnoxious fumes to breath as I mowed my lawn. Not to mention the annoying habit that mowers have of running out of gas half way through the job! However, these electric mowers are bit more expensive than their gas counter parts. If you are shopping for a new mower then you can always justify the extra cost, considering the savings in gas in the long term. However, I just wanted to replace my current mower.

I found that Home Depot sold one version for about $340 plus CA sales tax. However, if you shop around especially through mail order catalogs, you can sometimes take advantage of special offers, such as free shipping. That's how I came to buy my mower. A company called DAMARK, (I'm sure most of you will have received their flyer at least once) was selling a SINGER brand electric mower, including shipping, for $299. As far as I could tell from the description, it matched the Ryobi machine that Steve has. So, I ordered one. I also decided that I would recharge the mower by solar energy, therefore having free lawn mowing; Well relatively free after the outlay!

Real Goods also sells an electric mower, but theirs lists for $399, plus CA tax and shipping. They also list a solar panel charging kit for $199. So, I invested in their kit.

In their catalog description, it states: "Two 10 Watt amorphous PV modules with all necessary interconnects and other hardware." I was a bit shocked when this "kit" arrived. There were two panels; 10 feet of monster stereo speaker cable with one 1/4" Phono plug attached; One 1/4" Phono socket; A 10 Amp automotive fuse connected to a pigtail wire set up with two terminals.

At first it was not obvious how this "complete" kit worked. Also there was no blocking diode or voltage regulator. After a quick call to Real Goods I found I had all the pieces. After a few beers, the thing fell into place: The wire and the phono plug connect to the panels; The socket connects to the pigtail that goes across the batteries. And it seemed to work. Another call to Real Goods' technical line informed me that I did not need a voltage regulator as these panels lose some efficiency when they get warm. Also the blocking diode is not needed for this set up. I mounted the panels on the shed roof and I have enjoyed free mowing since May!

The charge held in the mower is enough to mow my 4 lawns (approximately 1/3 acre as I have a corner lot!) without any problem. As it's a mulching mower, there is no bagging which saves more time not to mention the disposal of the cuttings.

I have also discovered a couple of other mowers that SEVA members might be interested in; Real Goods is selling a complete Solar powered robotic lawnmower for a cool $1995; And Solar Power International will sell you their Solar Mower for $895 (free shipping!). The Solar Mower has power take-off socket so you can run "specially designed string strimmers, lawnedgers, and chain saws (no price listed)." Happy mowing!

Lawnmower Resources

Solar Power International
2000 North Woodward Ave.,
Suite 130
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304
(810) 644 1309

DAMARK International Inc.,
7101 Winnetka Ave No.,
P.O.Box 9437
Minneapolis, MN 55440-9437
(612) 535-8880
1-800-729-9000 (Orders)

Real Goods,
966 Mazzoni Street,
Ukiah, CA 95482-3471
(800) 762-7325

Dave & Jan Robinson
Robinson Video Transfer
P.O. Box 369
Roseville CA  95678-0369
(916) 773-3705
rvt@quiknet.com
http://www.quiknet.com/~rvt

SEVA News Items by Ruth MacDougall

We Have A Club Car!

This will make a great Mascot for SEVA. This is a car that everyone can work together on and we can have it at our events and meetings.

It's a 1960 Renault built originally as an electric. It has an old aircraft generator for a motor and it has four alternators with it which at one time someone attached to each of the four drive wheels to -- you guessed it -- recharge the batteries while you drive.

We're not sure any of the components are any good, so we're open to contributions of old components to get it running. Ruth will contribute her 96 volt Prestolite motor and a 220 volt Lester charger. We still need a controller and batteries. I'll bet you we can come up with what we need.

The body is in pretty good shape. It needs a little body putty (very little) and a good coat of paint and this car will catch everyone's eye.

Right now, it is stored at the Roseville airport at $10 a month. Let's get a group together to start planning the project. If your interested, contact a board member.

SEVA Goes To The Whole Earth Festival

The pictures are out! They show what a great time we had at the Davis Whole Earth Festival. After the May meeting with ZAP bike and the Tropica, despite the rain, several SEVA members drove their EVs to the Festival.

Three City-els driven by Arthur Cartright, Ruth MacDougall and Craig Childers, and Greg McCrae driving Jose Baer's sharp new Honda Civic took off from the SMUD Photovoltaic Charging Station. The clouds started to clear and by the time we got to Davis, the sun was shining and we pulled in Convertible style. Of course, we had to stop to 'Gas up' in West Sacramento.

Crowds and crowds of people flocked around the EVs all day long. We all had sore jaws at the end of the day but it was very worthwhile. A lot of people had questions about the effects of lead batteries on the environment stemming from the article that had come out the week before. We were able to educate quite a few people on the spot.

Ruth Found Her Car!

Thanks for all the suggestions and especially for the tip from Greg McCrea! Ruth found a white 1989 Geo Metro that is on its way to becoming an electric. She's doing the conversion down at Greg's garage at 14th and C Street.

Anecdotal Evidence

President Mark Bahlke is one up on Tom Sawyer! He now has two electric vehicles. Mark bought a Ryobi electric lawn mower and he loves it.

Especially because his son, Mathew, loves to mow the lawn with it. In fact, Mathew thinks it's so cool, that when he got done mowing the lawn with it the first time, he asked his dad, "How long do I have to wait until I can mow the lawn again?" Now that's something every parent wants to hear!

Mark has also become a PV Pioneer and has Photovoltaic panels installed on his house by SMUD.

LOOK OUT Rush!

Mark Bahlke was invited to speak on behalf of SEVA on Talk Radio on AM 650. His show was aired live on Friday morning, June 23rd. Sorry that we did not get the word out to all of you. It was a rousing good debate.

Mark told the audience about his point of view on electric vehicles and why he thinks the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate should remain in force. His opponent brought up points about lead poisoning and government subsidies.

Mark raised some good points about the fact that government subsidies have helped start up many a new industry and over the last 90 years have helped the oil industry to the tune of $300 billion dollars. And if you've read your newsletter last month, you know that the lead scare just isn't true.

Even though lead use has increased over the past 15 years, the amount of lead in our blood in the US has decreased dramatically. That's what good environmental regulation gets you. Three cheers for Mark and look out Rush!

EV Rebates In Los Angeles NEWS FLASH!

On July 14, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) approved a $7 million EV rebate program. Between 1996 and 1998 as many as 1200 EVs will be eligible for a $5,000 per vehicle price reduction. The discount will be available for qualified manufacturer's which meet minimum performance standards such as all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. It's almost enough to make you want to move to LA.

The Yellow Porsche Project by Tony Cygan

It has been quite some time since I last wrote of my exploits of converting a gas Porsche 914 to electric power, so I'll back up just a bit.

My first steps after getting the car was to strip it of it's ICE components, then to start working on bringing the cars mechanical systems up to snuff to insure it would be able to handle the added weight from the batteries and that there would be no problems from using the other electric car parts (note: I am still updating). I then decided on what I wanted to do with the car and settled on what parts I wanted and sent out bids to a few companies. The parts arrived and I started getting an idea of what would be going where and I also decided on which batteries I wanted to use. I made mock-ups so that I could figure battery placement and I finally ran the 2/0 power cable before shutting everything down for the winter.

So to pick up the story - now that it's warm again I've been back working on the car. I've had some bad news about the batteries I wanted to use (they were not available) and was told the battery charger I wanted was not ready yet from the developers. I changed the type of battery to a new 8volt model made by Trojan and decided to wait on the new charger since I'm almost, but not quite, ready for it.

These batteries are flooded lead-acid type vs the gel cell that I was going to use, but there are no real options for other gel cells. I had thought about going with 12volt flooded batteries, but the range was too short. I was willing to compromise range with the original 12volt gel cells due to other factors, but not with flooded lead-acid cells, so I went with the new 8 volt cells. They should give me about 60 miles range at highway speeds (although with a higher weight car).

I have also finished laying out the battery box design and hired out the job of building them to an experienced welder. The boxes are made from 1/8" aluminium sheet and use 1/4" flat and angle stock for reinforcement and mounting. They are in the car and look good. I have also run in the low voltage wiring and have connected many of the pieces together.

I had planned on bringing the car to the August meeting, but will be unavailable, so we will see you in September! There will be one more article next month to finish the conversion to electric power.

Upcomming EVents

SEVA Activities --
   o General Meeting, Saturday August 12th at 10:00am.
   o Board Meeting, Monday August 14th at 7:00pm.
   o General Meeting, Saturday September 9th at 10:00am.
   o Board Meeting, Monday September 11th at 7:00pm.
   o General Meeting, Saturday October 14th at 10:00am.
   o Board Meeting, Monday October 16th at 7:00pm.
   o General Meeting, Saturday November 11th at 10:00am.
   o Board Meeting, Monday November 13th at 7:00pm.

Bay Area & Modesto EAA Activities --
   o East Bay EAA Chapter Rally , Aug 12th
   o Silicon Valley EAA Chapter Rally, Sept 16th

National/International EVents --
   o REDI Conference, Aug 11-13
     Call 707-459-1256 for info.    
   o Forth Grove Fuel-cell Symposium, Sept 19-22
     +44(0) 1865 843721 (England) for info.
   o 1st Monoco Electric Gran Prix, October 19-21
     Contact Lisa Jeffery via fax at +92 15 03 13 (Monoco) 
     for more information.
   o North American EV and Infrstructure Conference, Dec 12-14
     Contact JoAnne Romanek at (610)566-7080 for information.
   o Scandinavian Electric Car Rally, July 31-Aug 5th, 1996
     Contact SECR '95 at +46 31 62 60 61 (Sweden) for information.

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