SEVA EVUpdate Newsletter February 1996

SEVA EVUpdate Newsletter

February 1996

Presidents Message by Mark Bahlke

The million number; part two

Well, after last month, a million doesn't seem so far off, if you're following my logic. We can document the simple fact that we are already driving a million miles per year. It will take a little effort and communication to talk to other clubs, but we have the contacts to do that. And we only have to talk to 8 or 9 other clubs with vehicles on the road to total up a million miles. If we had one person in SEVA talk to one other club, and a coordinator, it would only take 10 SEVA members to document all these miles. It would be a piece of cake to do, and think of all the publicity we could generate for Evs showing the benefits which are already being realized!

Well, this month I wanted to talk about some of those benefits of the million miles, and what makes that amount significant. Remember from last month, a million is a number I decided to use as one which was big enough to get people's attention, but not too big as to be unattainable. Well then, what is the impact of a million vehicle miles driven in California? Reduced pollution would be the first thing which comes to mind. How much pollution is there in a million miles? Quite a bit, in fact. So driving an electric vehicle which does not pollute will do alot to reduce pollution. Here then are a few facts about pollution which may help put things in perspective. "Burning 1 gallon of gasoline yields 22 pounds of carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas."(*l) OK, 1 gallon will, on average get you about 20 miles in an "average" gasoline powered car. So you need to burn about 50,000 gallons of gas to go 1,000,000 miles, thereby generating 1.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide.

Driving electric vehicles this distance will avoid creating 1.1 million pounds of C02. Carbon Monoxide U(CO) another very toxic pollutant is produced mostly by vehicles, about 46 million tons worth per year. In a million miles, that works out to around 687,500 pounds of CO. Nitrogen Oxides, NO are also major components of smog. About B million tons are produced by vehicles each year, in a million miles, that's over 460 pounds of Nox. At last count, the California DMV reported that it showed around 3,000 vehicles registered in CAwith "Electric "as the type of power. If 350 to 400 vehicles can drive a million miles per year, then 3000 vehicles could be driving 6 or 7 million miles per year!

Well, I can crunch numbers all day long, some of these statistics are familiar to us, but the point is that a few of us acting locally, working together with other groups acting locally, can infiuence the quality of life for everybody. Next month, I will follow up with another look at our project board, updated for '96, and hopefully a look at what some ofthe other vehicle clubs are doing in terms of miles driven. In addition, I would like to review some of the cost savings which are realized by driving Evs, particularly health related costs.

I wanted to touch on a couple of other points while I'm here, that is elections, and activity in the coming year. The elections were a success, I am happy to be re-elected again, and the board members are also pleased as well. I think with the group we have now, SEVA will be in for it's most exciting year ever! Thank you to those who voted, for your support, and I would like to encourage the rest who were a little shy to make sure that your voice is heard by SEVA this year. We will be looking forward to your support.

Activities - well, we have again a great deal of opportunity for activities this year. We will be participating in a number of events, so keep your eyes peeled, and get ready to go !

footnote: *1) "Steering a New Course", Debrah Gordon, Union of Concerned Scientists, 1991

Monthly Meeting Minutes by Bill Dean

The meeting was opened at 10am by V.P. Tim Loree. He recruited a committee for the CleanAir Commute. Bill Dean passed out ballots for the SEVA election. Arthur Cartwright complained about a two-part editorial on KTXL. Tony Barrows suggested that SEVA put an ad in the Bee's auto section on Friday. Dennis Merritt mentioned a market launch workshop on Jan 31. Several members discussed impressions of the CARB meetings about the ZEV mandate. Jim Lerner, CARB staff, said that Southern California and Sacramento get 3750 ZEVs. Tim let visitors introduce themselves. Ruth MacDougall mentioned two Honda EVs at the Sacramento airport that state worker can use. She drove one and says it feels just like a normal car.

Ruth presented information about lead acid batteries. It is a mature industry, most batteries get recycled. SMUD has a fleet of 40 EVs with flooded cells. SMUD is converting to sealed batteries, the industry trend. Flooded cells need maintenance every 4 weeks, are less safe, less crash worthy, but they can be quick-charged, also over charged 15% to equalize the cells. It is hard to know the depth of discharge (DOD) of a flooded cell, because of stratification of electrolyte. Sealed batteries include absorbed glass mat (AGM) and gel cells.

AGM are most efficient around 50% DOD. After 80% resistance goes way up and the battery gets hot.It takes 20 to 50 charge cycles for battery to reach full capacity, then it gradually falls off. End of life is defined as time when battery is at 80% of full capacity. An EV can beat an ICE on reliability if the fuel gauge indicates full for anything above 80% of rated capacity. It is better to wait for deep discharge than to recharge after every little trip. Optimal battery temperature is 65-85 F. The "C/3" rating refers to 100% DOD in 3 hours.

Ruth mentioned failure modes: disequalization resulting in some cells overcharging and others over discharging; frequent topping off causing high resistance anddamage. To prevent failure, allow a C/5 discharge once every 25 cycles or use a smart charger.

Tim closed the meeting at noon.

Monthly Board Minutes by Bill Dean

The SEVA board met Monday, January 15 at 7:30pm to discuss club business. The meeting began with a review of the monthly meeting. The club had fruitful discussion, so that Ruth only had 45 minutes for her prepared presentation, which she finished half an hour after the meeting had ended at noon.

Mark Balke suggested that SEVA get one or two tables at the Clean Air Banquet, Friday May 10. A table for 10 costs $120. Bill Dean or Dick Park will represent SEVA in the planning meetings with the Lung Association. Arthur Cartwright suggested that SEVA give awards for EV fleets at the luncheon. Ruth expressed her appreciation to SEVA members who attended the CARB meetings in December.

Mark said that Dave Robinson is moving to the Bay Area and will no longer be able to videotape SEVA meetings. Ruth will try to find the person at SMUD who had previously expressed an interests, to take over.

Tony Cygan said that he mailed out 143 newsletters. Several people have come to meetings after learning about SEVA via the homepage. Tony is now on the national EAA board. He said that SEVA is one of the bigger chapters of EAA. Tony is building an unofficial homepage for EAA, and it has already resulted in 6 new EAA memberships.

The board discussed the possibility of video taping the Mike Brown workshop. Ruth will ask him. Tony Barros suggested putting a notice about SEVA meetings in the Bee auto section on Friday. Bill and Ruth will make this happen.

Ruth reminded the board that Michael Parker and Jim Lerner can give grant-writing workshops. Dick Park recommended that the local yellow pages phone book have a map of charging stations. Mark liked the idea and suggested working with SMUD on that.

The board organized the Clean Air Commute committee for that event, Saturday May 11. The board discussed who would go to the infrastructure and marketing workshop sponsored by the Electric Transportation Coalition on Wednesday Jan. 31. Mark will ask if the club can send more than the three who we reoriginally invited.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:10pm.

EV Related Tour of Europe

A two-week tour of France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland of special interest to electric vehicle enthusiasts is planned from June 16 to June 29, 1996, sponsored in part by the French National Electric Utility (EDF), Renault and Puegot/Citroen.

Among the sites to be visited will be the Cities of La Rochelle, Brugge, and Zurich with their large municipal EV test programs, the Neoplan EV bus plant in Stuttgart, and plants assembling EVs in Aniche, Germany and Nice, France, and the Electric Vehicle Division at EDF headquarters.

The tour will include two days in Paris. Total registration is limited to 40 persons.

For further information and reservations , contact --

Saxe Dobrin,
BATTERY POWERED ELECTRIC,
1630-A Franklin Street.
Santa Monica, CA 90404.
Voice 310/453-1531;
e-mail sdobrin@aol.com (Saxe Dobrin)

Blizzard Blues - by Chip Gribben

After two hours of shoveling I was finally able to dig my EV out of the snow yesterday. There was so much snow on the cars in our townhouse development they looked like ski moguls.

When the car was finally freed from its igloo I drove it around the parking lot and went to the store to get some munchies (of course there was no bread left). I was very impressed with how the car handled with 6 inches of snow on the road, especially after watching my neighbor slide around the parking lot in his Corvette. The EV also drives so quietly you can hear the snow crunching under the tires.

When we got home my wife suggested that I charge the car. I said, "OK I'll be with you in a minute". Twenty minutes later, after several attempts at locating the outlet on the house and wading through waist-deep snow to get the cord to reach the car, I plugged it in.

I wasn't too surprised when the charger tripped considering how much moisture was in the air. When I popped opened the hood to investigate I was quite amazed at the amount of snow that had blown inside. Even with a belly pan and the radiator opening closed off the snow still found a way to get in. After drying everything off I was able to get the car charged again.

We are expecting more snow tonight. In the meantime I'm going to dream about how nice it would be to have a garage.

Chip Gribben
96 Volt Escort
Laurel, Maryland
Ghugh53821@aol.com

Ediotrs note: Chip is on the EV Discussion list and I thought I'd give those of us here in sunny California a taste of what it's like for other EV drivers around the country. I'll keep an eye out for other interesting tales and slip them in when I come across them. Enjoy.

Electric Boat Racing !

Things appear to be taking a turn towards a possible shoot-out at the Oroville Kilo Trials February 17th. It's starting to look like *everybody* will be there now. The latest to hint at this is record holder Dave Cloud, who's talking about taking the boat to Phoenix as a display (and maybe a demo lap on Firebird if allowed) may adjust his travel schedule to run the kilos and defend his record.

People in the Sacramento area might be able to visit the Kilo Trials. it's on the Thermolito Afterbay parallel to hwy 99, a bit Southwest of Oroville, about 70 miles north of Sacramento.

Editors note: This was sent to me via email from an electric boat racing fan. We don't have many of these kinds of EVents around here and it might be interesting to see. It's in conjunction with the gas boat races on the APBA circuit.

Editors Corner by Tony Cygan

A few thanks are in order this month.

First off I want to thank Eckart Schroeder for his article on the electrical technologies of electric vehicles. This is a big, extremely detailed work, that I think you, our members, will like. It will start appearing in next months newsletter. Also Eckart has been very busy writting letters to the editor at the Bee and the local TV stations about their anti-EV newstories. Outstanding work Eckart !

Second I want to thank Darrel Singleton for the work he is doing on my Porsche. Darrel is doing some body work and giving the car a new paint job so that it looks real pretty for it's new life as an EV. Darrel does outstanding work and is also in the EV conversion business up in Yuba City, so those of you who need someone to help you with converting a vehicle should give Darrel a call.

Lastly I want to thank Mike Brown for his time in doing our recent EV Conversion Workshop for us. One of these workshops 3 years ago was my first real introduction to EVs and got me going to the point of converting my own. There were 23 people who attended this recent workshop and had an outstanding time learning about EVs.

SEVA Election Results

All candidates were elected based 
on the following voting results.
Congratulations to all !

Candidate    --    Votes

Officers
Mark Bahlke       -- 22
Tim Loree         -- 22
Steve Smith       -- 23
Bill Dean         -- 22

Board Members
Rick Prestel      -- 23
Ed Brannon        -- 23
Mike Simpson      -- 23
Tony Cygan        -- 24
Arthur Cartwright -- 23
Dennis Merritt    -- 23
Ruth MacDougall   -- 24
Dick Park         -- 23

Total Ballots cast-- 24

EV News Bits

SOLECTRIA ENTERS ASIAN MARKET!

(Wilmington, MA) -- Solectria Corporation today announced that it has signed an exclusive sales agreement with Sanoh Industrial Co., Ltd., a major global supplier of automotive components based in Japan. Sanoh will market Solectria's production electric vehicles (EVs) -- the Force sedan and the E-10 pickup truck -- and electric vehicle components to customers throughout Japan.

Note: part of a Solectria press release.

TOYOTA CHARGES UP ZEV MONITORING PROGRAM

From the GM Newsline:

Toyota Motor said yesterday it plans to be a serious player in the zero emission vehicle (ZEV) arena. A two-year monitoring program designed to test the everyday practicality of its RAV4-EV is underway. Introduced four years ago at the Tokyo Motor Show as the EV-50, the RAV4-EV has moved quickly from concept car to fully functional engineering test bed. It is a front-wheel drive, two-door, four-set vehicle utilizing basic chassis platform and interior componentry similar to Toyota's all new RAV4 sport utility vehicle. Two forms of energy storage are currently being tested: valve-regulated lead acid and nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH). The RAV4-EV carries it charger on-board, eliminating the need for additional equipment.

Note: SMUD just received one of these for a two year test. It looks reeeal nice !

SOLAR POWERED BOAT RECORD

ADELAIDE, Jan 8 (Reuter) - An Australian school on Monday claimed a world record for the longest journey on an inland waterway by a solar-powered boat after clocking up 2,506 km (1,557 miles) along Australia's largest river, the Murray.

The secondary students and their teachers from Adelaide's Prince Alfred College, who designed, built and piloted their A$250,000 (US$187,500) vessel, began their record bid downstream from the Snowy Mountains in eastern Australia on December 1.

The group said it had broken the existing world record of 2,107.2 km (1,309.4 miles), held by a Sydney sailor, more than a week ago. The new record was set when the boat arrived on Monday at Goolwa, south of Adelaide, where the Murray - the world's third largest navigable river - meets the sea. The school said each stage of the trip had been verified by local officials for submission to the Guiness Book of Records.

The 11.28 metre (37-ft) tri-hulled Sunboat II is powered by energy from 1,728 solar cells, and claimed as the world's largest solar-powered boat. Team leader Malcolm Gray said the school project, involving about 100 students and six teachers, had achieved all it had set out to do. "To take a new design out into its desired environment and run it 37 days pretty well non-stop, without any real pre-testing, is a pretty brave thing to do,'' he told Reuters.

Editors note: England also has a real interest in solar and electric powered boats. You can find out more about them on the internet at the following WWW address -- http:// dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/ev90064/

L.A. COUNCILMAN SEEKS TO BUY FIRST L.A. GM EV1

Los Angeles -- Demonstrating his commitment to clean-air goals, Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude has committed to purchase the first General Motors EV1 electric vehicle (EV) sold in Los Angeles, reports the Los Angeles Times. In the public ceremony at City Hall Friday, January 26, he also honored GM for its decision to sell EVs and improve the region's air quality. The EV1's distributor, Saturn, refused Braude's deposit check for $1,000, citing the difficulty of accepting advance deposits, but publicly accepted the purchase commitment. Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who said she is considering purchasing an EV for herself, said she could be introducing a proposal for the city to buy a fleet of EVs.

ARIZONA DECLARES JAN. 29 AFV AWARENESS DAY

Phoenix, Arizona. -- The Arizona Legislature will host a display of alternative-fueled vehicles such as electric and natural gas powered vehicles on the Capitol Mall in Phoenix on Monday, Jan. 29. The showcase of clean-fuel vehicles will reportedly include two General Motors EV1s, EcoElectric's 1996 Chevrolet S-10 electric pickup truck conversion, an electric bus that utilizes a battery swap-out system and several natural gas vehicles. A news conference is scheduled for noon. An unconfirmed Internet electric vehicle discussion group posting reports the event could include an introduction of a "very aggressive Arizona Alternative Fuels Bill." Arizona is one of two states that GM has selected to initially offer the EV1 for sale beginning in the fall.

ARPA CONTRACT FOR HIGH CAPACITY HYDROGEN STORAGE UNIT

RINGWOOD, N.J., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Ergenics announced today that it is working under the first phase of a contract awarded by ARPA under its transportation technology consortium program. The program is part of the Mid Atlantic Regional Consortium for Advanced Vehicles (MARCAV), which is administered by Concurrent Technologies Corporation. The scope of Ergenics' efforts for ARPA involves work on Ergenics' highly innovative rechargeable battery technology directed at producing a 20 KWHr unit for an electric vehicle (EV). Ergenics' battery will extend an EV's driving range by a factor of three over today's lead acid batteries, overcoming a major impediment to mass marketing of EVs. Unlike existing lead acid batteries, the Ergenics' battery will also last the entire life of the vehicle.

The initial phase of the project calls for design, fabrication, and demonstration of a High Capacity Hydrogen Storage Unit. This marks the first time a hydrogen storage density of 200 W-hr/L will be demonstrated using Eugenics' patented storage technology, which allows hydrogen to be stored safely in solid hydride form at low temperatures and pressures.

The Ergenics Segmented Battery(TM) combines the high energy storage density of metal hydrides with the space proven chemistry of nickel/hydrogen batteries. The resulting battery outperforms other battery technologies in all significant characteristics including extraordinary cycle life and high discharge rate capability which makes for fast acceleration of a vehicle. In addition to EVs, it is especially well suited for use in powering Hybrid Electric Vehicles. The Hybrid EV uses a small internal combustion engine in combination with a battery.

Upcomming EVents

Upcomming EVents
SEVA Activities
o  General Meeting, Saturday, February 10th at 10am.
o  Board Meeting, Monday, February 12th at 7pm.
o  General Meeting, Saturday, March 9th at 10am.
o  Board Meeting, Monday, March 11th at 7pm.
o  General Meeting, Saturday, April 13th at 10am.
o  Board Meeting, Monday, April 15th at 7pm.

National/International EV Activities
o  National EAA Yearly Meeting/Symposium, Feb. 10th, 1996
o  Phoenix APS Electrics, March 1-3, 1996.