SEVA EVUpdate Newsletter June 1996

SEVA EVUpdate Newsletter

June 1996

Presidents Message by Mark Bahlke (mbahlke@mcd.intel.com)

Welcome to summer, and EV cruisin' the Sacramento area!

Boy, the month goes by fast with a little one in the house. But I love it. Well, it's the busy time of year for us EVers. When the weather gets warmer, and the air gets dirtier, we need more than ever to drive our EVs around and show people what we've got. It's been a busy month for me doing just that.

It started off early this month with the Clean Air Awards lunch held by the American Lung Association. Another great time, and a real inspiration to see the large amount of efforts going on in this area to clean our air. The highlight for me was to read in the program that SEVA recieved an honorable mention in the Award category for group and individual awards! This is a big accomplishment for SEVA to recieve this kind of recognition. It also suggests to me that with a little more effort, we could be recieving an award next year. Nothing would make me prouder than to see SEVA get recognized for it's efforts to clean the air in the Sacramento valley.

I spent an inspiring afternoon yesterday at Casa Roble High School in Orangevale watching the vocational education group hold their first electric vehicle rally and autocross. This was a really great motivated bunch of kids who built their own electric go-carts, learned all the technology for them, and the big payoff was the races yesterday. In talking with their instructor, I learned that this program had taken kids with below average grades, and inspired them to work harder, raising their GPAs to 3.5, given them better self esteem, and the interest to work hard to make a better future for themselves. Pretty neat to watch.

Earlier this week, some of the SEVA board met out at Rio Linda airport where the SEVA "Club Car" is being stored. Many of you may not even be aware that we have a club car, but we do. Hopefully our first visit will begin the process of introducing you to the car, and getting some interest in getting it on the road. This car is CUTE! It's a 1959-60 Renault, 4 door sedan. It's in really good shape, dusty, dirty, and basically in need of some quality TLC. It has already been converted to electric, in that a small motor has replaced the ICE, cabling has been added, and space made for batteries.

We are putting together a list of items the car needs, and work which needs to be done, in the hopes that a few SEVA work parties will get this baby on the road. I would also hope that we could use the motivation to get some help to some of the other members who are converting their cars, and get them moved along. This could be the year we double the size of the SEVA EV fleet!

Well, lastly, I would like to ask all of you for your opinions on an issue which has been on my mind for some time. I have asked the board if I could survey the membership to see what the response would be to a potential change in the meeting time each month. I am not able to be at the meetings due to a personal commitment which I cannot change, and so to better serve the membership I am wondering if people would be willing to meet at another time when I could be there to preside, and hopefully lead the group to higher things.

I have put a small questionaire in this issue, and I would sincerely appreciate it if you would fill it out, and send it back to me as soon as you can. Thank you all very much for your attention.

Yours in clean air,
Mark Bahlke

Board Meeting Minutes by Bill Dean (billdean@calweb.com)

The SEVA board met Monday, May 13 at 7:30 pm to discuss club business. The meeting began with a review of recent events. SEVA received honorable mention at the Lung Association Clean Air Luncheon. Participants in the Clean Air Commute had a good time, greeted by a receptive crowd at the Whole Earth Festival in Davis.

Ruth MacDougall reported that she is trying to get the Solar Energy Expo & Rally to come to Davis.

Mark Bahlke noted that the Clean Air Commute conflicts with the SF Bear event. The board had a lively discussion about this. The board finally agreed unanimously that next year the Clean Air Commute should visit various cities during their Earth Day events, (usually) the last Saturday in April, thereby freeing up the first weekend in May for those who want to participate in the SF Bear.

Mark asked the board for suggestions about the picnic July 14. The board thought that last year's format was successful. So it will be potluck at McKinley Park. Arthur Cartwright's Clean Air badges have been a success, so he can make another presentation. The press should be invited to cover this event.

Mark wants SEVA to provide 6 of our best looking EVs for the Santa Parade in November. The club should have a banner proclaiming, "Our gift to Sacramento is cleaner air!" Mark will ask members for input regarding meeting times. Perhaps some time other than Saturday morning might work better. Tony Cygan reported that this month's meeting 10 members showed up even with the mix-up’s we’ve had. The members came at 10 am and met at picnic tables behind SMUD.

Steve Smith presented a shirt to Mark for his new son. It says "I'm Electric" on the front and has the logo of the Clean Air Commute.

Ed Brannon reported that Norman Gilbert's brother had died. The board voted to send flowers or contribute to a memorial.

The meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm.

SEVA’s Annual Potluck Picnic is coming !

 
When:  Sunday July 14th, From 11am until ??? 
Where: South end of McKinely Park in East Sacramento. 
       The park is located at the corner of Alhambra Blvd  
       and ‘H’ Street.  One block east of Bus. 80. 
Who:   You and your family, and if you have am EV, please bring it ! 
Why:   To have fun, meet other members of SEVA, talk about and look 
       at all the EVs we have, and to have FUN! 
What:  Check the chart below to find out what you need to bring. 
       SEVA will provide plates, cups and eating utensils. 
          A - F    Drinks 
          G - L    Salads/Snacks 
          M - S    Main Course 
          T - Z    Desserts 
 
       Bring enough for 6 to 8 people.  You might also want to  
       bring extra for your family members.  A grill or charcoal 
       might also be a good thing to have with you, just in case.

Membership Poll

In order to better meet the needs of the SEVA membership, I would like to know
the following information:

Please circle one answer for each, and send them to: SEVA Information Poll,
C/O Mark Bahlke 8619 Posadera Ave. Orangevale, CA. 95662

o I would be willing to meet at another time each month.
            Yes     No 
o I would only be willing to come if the meetings are held at the time they 
  are now, 10:00 to 12:00 the second Saturday of each month.
            Yes     No 
o If we meet at a different time,  I would like it to be on a: 
     Saturday afternoon    Sunday morning    Sunday afternoon    Weeknight evening 
o I would like to be able to have a hands on workshop time after the regular meeting.
            Yes     No 
o I would like to be able to have a hands on workshop at another time each 
  month besides rthe regular meeting.
            Yes     No 
o I am happy with the current meeting style of speaker, or presenter, and a 
  little time for business. 
            Yes     No 
o I would be interested in working on and attending more public events during 
  the year than we do now.
            Yes     No 
o If meeting/workshop times were better, I would be able to start/finish building 
  an electric conversion.
            Yes     No 
o I have the following opinions which cannot be summed up in a simple Yes/No: 
 
Optional:  If you put your name on this questionaire, and are at the picnic 
in July, I will give you a stamp for the one you used to mail this to me! 
Thanks, Mark

Editors Corner by Tony Cygan (tonyc@144volts.com)

I want to thank those hardy soles who showed up for our May meeting. Even though it was a last minute thing and we had no speaker scheduled, people came by just to talk about EVs. A couple of the people who were there had seen an ad in the Sacramento Bee and a few others came who heard about us by word-of-mouth and wanted to see what’s up. I hope they show up again and see what a real meeting is about, with our speakers and all.

There were two unpublished EVents held by recently by non-club groups, which I hope will continue. The first was the dedication of FREE Electric Shuttle Buses that will be in-service between Old Sacramento and the Convention Center (thanks RT !). The busses will run 7 days per week, for 8-10 hours per day..

The other EVent was an Electric Go-Cart Race put on by the students at Casa Robles High School. Instructor Gene Samuelson and his students built 5 carts as part of a student course on EVs and then raced them. Congratulations go to all the kids at Casa Robles for taking an interest in EVs. Your the future don’t ya know...

Gene would like to do Electrathon type vehicles next year and is looking for others to race against. How about it ! Are there any schools or individuals interested in this here in the Sacramento area? Start planning your projects for next school year and give Gene a call at Casa Robles H.S...

See you next month.

Used batteries for sale

Batteries! Batteries! Batteries!

I have just aquired a set of 17 used UPS batteries which I would like to make available to the club at hopefully a good price.

These are 12V, 50aH rated gel cel batteries, and they would make a great lighter weight auxillary battery, or several put together could power a small vehicle or go cart. They are used, in that they have been in a large UPS for a few years, and were replaced because of age. They have only been discharged a couple of times, and probably have quite a bit of useful life left in them. The money from these batteries will go to putting another EV conversion on the road, so "it's for a good cause".

I will sell them for $25.00 each, or all 17 for $400. I will even deliver them, if you buy 5 or more.

Call me at 988-8368, leave a message if I'm not there. Mark Bahlke

EV News Bits

From Calstarts Website (www.calstart.com) and other sources.

05/17/96 - Matsushita Opens Ohio Lithium Battery Plant

Columbus, Ohio - Matsushita Battery Industrial Corp. has opened a new lithium battery plant in Columbus, Ohio that it expects will crank out 15 million batteries by the end of March, 1997, reports the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. And, in the year following, Matsushita expects to double the amount to 30 million batteries. The 85,000-square-foot, $25 million Lithium Battery Division facility is the third battery operation the company operates in the area.

Matsushita also makes vehicle batteries, including nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries that Honda and Toyota will reportedly use in their electric vehicles (EVs). Lithium-ion batteries are one of the batteries considered to be a potential next step after NiMH for powering EVs.

05/16/96 - Forward-Thinking Oil Company Offers EV Rentals

Oslo, Norway - Norwegian oil company Statoil Norge AS will rent electric - yes, electric - cars to travelers at the airport in Oslo, Norway. The unique program will offer PIVCO "City Bee" two-passenger electric vehicles (EVs) for the equivalent of about $50 per day. Utility company Oslo Energi is also a partner in the program, but Statoil will handle booking, recharging and maintenance of the vehicle and its batteries.

Ironically, United States oil companies have fiercely lobbied the California Air Resources Board to roll back its market introduction of EVs in the state. California-model PIVCOs are already in use in a San Francisco-area station car program that links rail commuters with their workplaces or homes. PIVCO and CALSTART are seeking a California site to manufacture the lightweight, aluminum-structure, plastic bodied EVs, which travel 65 miles per hour and have a range of 65 miles on lead-acid batteries.

05/15/96 - GM, EV1 Receive First CALSTART Blue Sky Award

Washington, D.C. - General Motors - and its innovative EV1 electric car - have been selected to receive the inaugural CALSTART Blue Sky Award.

This new international award recognizes outstanding marketplace actions in advanced transportation that help create jobs and clean the air. The award announcement came at a Washington, D.C. reception honoring GM; a formal presentation will come during a ceremony in California.

The award not only recognizes GM s innovative EV design, but also its active marketing of the vehicles as well. The EV1 is designed from the ground up for electric propulsion, incorporates 23 new technology patents and is billed as the world s most energy-efficient vehicle. GM will be the first major automaker to offer EVs when the EV1 goes on sale this fall through Saturn retailers in Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Tucson.

Chrysler Abandons The Patriot Mp>

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 24 (Reuter) - Three years after launching its Patriot alternative fuel racing car, Chrysler Corp said Friday it has abandoned the project without ever starting the motor.

The U.S. No. 3 automaker plans instead to concentrate resources on its new hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) project with the U.S. Department of Energy.

Announced in February, the HEV project is an $84 million, four-year venture to develop an ultra-efficient vehicle that uses both a diesel engine and electrical power.

Francois Castaing, executive vice president of vehicle engineering, said the Patriot ran into developement problems with both the energy-storing flywheel and natural gas turbines used to power the car.

"We didn't want to wait until those limitations were overcome to transfer our successes into the next state of hybrid research," Castaing said at a news conference.

Toyota, Matsushita to make electric car batteries

TOKYO (Reuter) - Japan's biggest carmaker, Toyota Motor Corp., and consumer electronics giant Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd have joined hands to produce the next generation of batteries for use in electric cars.

The two conglomerates announced Monday that they would set up a company in September to develop, manufacture and sell nickel-metal hydride rechargeable batteries.

``Development of electric vehicles is a very important subject now in view of the environment,'' said Masanao Shiomi, the head of Toyota's electric vehicle development unit.

Electric cars are the key to meeting tougher environmental laws around the world, especially in the United States, industry analysts say.

To succeed, the companies will have to solve the high-cost and performance problems associated with batteries, which have been major obstacles in producing electric vehicles for consumer use.

Matsushita has already developed a nickel-metal hydride battery for use in an electric version of Toyota's RAV4 light sport-utility vehicle.

Toyota started testing the electric-powered RAV4s in Japan and the United States in January, and in April said it would start selling the vehicles to U.S. fleet buyers. The carmaker said the RAV4 can run about 215 km (135 miles) in urban driving before it has to be recharged.

Toyota Says its Fuel Cell Debut Won’t Be Long

New York - Business Week reports Toyota s fuel cell-powered vehicle project isn t far behind the Daimler-Benz (Mercedes)-Ballard Power Systems vehicle project unveiled last week in Berlin.

The magazine cites Toyota as saying "it won t be long" before the company, the largest automaker in Japan, unveils a fuel cell-powered vehicle of its own. The Mercedes minivan project is considered a breakthrough because the size of the low-emission powerplant has been reduced to fit in a passenger vehicle.

Upcomming EVents

Upcoming EVents 
 
Local SEVA Activities 
 
o    General Meeting, Saturday, June 8th at 10am. 
o    Board Meeting, Monday, June 10th at 7pm. 
o    Annual Picnic, Sunday,  July 14th at 11am until ??? 
     ***NO Meeting on Saturday*** 
o    Board Meeting, Monday, July 15th at 7pm. 
o    General Meeting, Saturday, August 10th at 10am. 
o    Board Meeting, Monday, August 12th at 7pm. 

Bay Area/Modesto Activities 
o    East Bay EAA Annual Rally, August  
 
National/International EV Activities 
 
o    Solar Splash (EV Boats), Milwaukee, WI., June 20th to June 23rd. 
o    Cleveland (Formula) Electric Classic, June 27th to June 29th. 
o    Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Colorado, July 4th. 
o    Sun Sprint of the Rockies, August 5th to August 13th. 
o    Beijing International EV Exhibition, September 20 to 26. 
o    2nd Annual Monte Carlo EV Rally, Oct. 17 to 20.