SEVA EVUpdate Newsletter December 1996

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

The SEVA board met Monday, November 18 at 7:30 pm to discuss club business. Mark Bahlke participated via speakerphone.

Ruth MacDougall discussed program ideas for the meetings next month and in 1997. The Board helped come up with good ideas and tentative dates. Special events that we plan on this coming year include the Clean Air Commute, April 19, the picnic, July 13, and the Santa Parade in November.

The Board put together a procedure for the SEVA election. The Board decided to renominate most of the incumbents and since no one else has stepped forward to be on the ballot, we will have write-in candidates for the 2 open seats.

Ruth reported that the Peninsula Club has a Renault that may be just like the SEVA club car. Their car is in good shape except for the brakes, which reportedly need $1500 of work. Ruth reported that the Peninsula Club is willing to donate SEVA the car.

Steve Smith, Tony Cygan, and Arthur Cartwright are planning to attend the Peninsula Club Christmas Party in December and inspect the car.

Ruth said that the monthly SEVA meeting in December will be in the old location, but that SMUD has made a commitment to let SEVA use the new building Jan-June.

The Board had a detailed discussion about signs. The consensus was to get something done professionally to augment what we already have.

Ruth talked about the roles needed on the morning of the monthly meeting, since it’s too much for one person alone.

The meeting was adjourned at 9 pm.

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

The release of the EV-1 in Los Angeles, San Diego, Tucson, and Phoenix is happening as I type this. This is the first big rollout of an EV from a major manufacturer since the beginning of the century. Then early next year we will be seeing EVs coming out from Honda and Toyota,and a little later from Ford, Chrysler, and Nissan. GM says they expect to lease 1000 EVs in the first year and have 250 firm customers waiting now. No one knows what will happen with the other car companies, who start selling/leasing their EVs early in 1997.

I wish them all luck. I also wished that they had designed cars that the majority of people could afford and let more people find out what EVs are all about.

I’m hoping that the car companies sales people do the right thing and educate the public about the range aspect of car ownership. Like asking people how far they drive in a year or in a day. Show the public the figures that they don’t need a car with

300 miles range for their everyday driving, but only those 5 or so long trips they take each year. Show them how you can get around the range issue by renting a car for those occasions and how they will save on insurance and maintenance costs, and heaven forbid, a second car payment. Having a car that only goes 70-100 miles per charge will NOT be a problem.

For those of you who can’t afford $30,000+ for a car and still want to drive electric, don’t forget that ICE conversions are still around and are a good value. Cost is around $10,000 for a do-it-yourself conversion of a 10 year old car, on up to near that $30,000 for a late model vehicle that was converted by a professional EV conversion shop. Or you can buy a used EV from someone who is moving up. Either way you go driving electric is the way to the future.

Electric Vehicle Symposium 13 Report
by Ruth MacDougall (rmacdou@smud.org)

Osaka, Japan - October 1996

EVS13 was a very exciting international industry conference on electric and hybrid vehicle technology held in Osaka, Japan in late October. If you thought interest had died after the CARB regulation was modified, you can rest assured, it has not. The EV industry is alive and well! There was record attendance at EVS13 of 1650 people from 32 different countries. Granted, 75% of them were from Japan, 9% from the United States, and the remaining from other countries. The Technology Exposition filled three large halls with about 70% of the displays from Japanese companies and 20% of the displays from the United States. It was evident to me that the technology has taken another great leap in the last two years between EVS12 and EVS13.

Probably the biggest surprise for me was the Japanese battery manufacturer's all showed up with a STANDARD sized battery. All you converters out there might keep this in mind when you build battery boxes or frames. It is only 7 inches tall (with recessed terminals), about 15 inches long and a little over 5 inches wide. I saw this size on display in lead acid, nickel metal hydride and even lithium-ion, that hot new 100 wh/kg battery that Nissan has put in the Prairie Joy.

The Prairie Joy was pretty impressive to drive. Yes, drive! I have to say I was amazed that the lithium-ion battery is out of the laboratory in Japan and available at Ride and Drives. Toyota also was showing off its new Fuel Cell EV in a parade in downtown Osaka.

A whole assortment of CUTE European cars in LifeSaver colors were on display and driveable. I like small cars so the Pivco CityBee was a favorite of mine.

And those of you who know that I once drove a City-el for 5,000 miles will understand why I fell in love with this little NEV tied up with a big red bow for the parade. The other encouraging sign was companies with big names like Denso displaying a wide assortment of components for EVs.

There were about ten technical sessions going on at any one time so I was spread pretty thin trying to hear them all. I concentrated on batteries. There were six companies reporting on Nickel Metal Hydride, four on Lithium-Ion and five on advanced lead acid. There were at least a dozen talks on battery management as well.

EVS14 will be held in Orlando, Florida from December 15 to 17 in 1997. So if you're taking the kids to Disney World next year, do it around this time to see what the whole world has to offer in electric vehicles.

Improved Solar Cells Win the World Solar Challenge
by Ruth MacDougall (rmacdou@smud.org)

The Honda ‘Dream’ won the Australian World Solar Challenge this year with the help of new monosilicon photovoltaic cells boasting 24% efficiency. Bright sunny days for this years winner propelled the vehicle 89.76 kmph (55.77 mph) down the long 3010 km (1870 miles) highway from Darwin to Adelaide in just four days. The solar cells made by Martin Green of University of New South Wales consisted of a 25% improvement in efficiency over the best technology demonstrated in the race three years ago.

Solar vehicles are an extremely demanding technology and must be made as efficient as possible. The 46 vehicles entering the race were only allowed to run eight hours a day, starting at 8:00AM, stopping for two half hour media stops and then going until they stopped to camp on the side of the road wherever they happened to land at 5:00PM.

The Honda car had other well-engineered features which made it a winner. The total curb weight of the two-person vehicle was only 170 kg (374 lbs). Fully loaded the overall weight was 330 kg (726 lbs) considering the ballasted weight of 80 kg per person. The aerodynamic drag was said to be about 0.12 which was not the best in the race, but outstanding for a two-person car. The vehicle carried about 5 kwh of silver zinc batteries which were only able to charge from the sun.

The Honda ‘Dream’ team was impressive to watch. At each well orchestrated pit stop, a new driver and navigator took the helm and at the nightly stops the team members busied themselves performing preventative maintenance on the components, such as cleaning the wheel hubs and changing tires. There were no technical problems to speak of, though the team was challenged with a fairly stiff sidewind on the final day and had the exasperating experience of turning into the wrong lane in busy Adelaide in the last hour of the race. By pushing through on the final day and actually going into overtime, the hardworking Honda team was able to sleep in an Adelaide hotel instead of roadside on the final day.

The World Solar Challenge which began in 1987 has lead to many improvements in technology for solar vehicles which have had direct implications for electric vehicle technology. After racing the GM Sunraycer in 1987, General Motors went on the develop the GM Impact, the first U.S. purpose-built prototype electric vehicle to be later developed for manufacturing. The result of that development, the EV1, will enter the marketplace on December 5th, in Southern California and Arizona. This chain of events might never have happened, had it not been for the inspiration and persistence of race organizer, Hans Tholstrup, and the willingness of GM to enter the solar race in 1987.

The race will continue to run in Australia, however, the three year cycle will change to a two year cycle. Tholstrup has handed over the reigns to the Southern Territory of Australia, who will host the race in 1998 and 2000.

Caution...Solar Car Ahead
by Tony Cygan (tonyc@144volts.com)

That's what the support vehicles that traveled across the Australian outback had to wear on their backsides to warn approaching drivers that they were coming up on a solar race car. These cars, while not as fast as say an Indy racer, were going quite fast if you consider that their only fuel was the sunlight that filled their batteries with electricity. It'll take a few million years before the Indy car can refuel when we run out of gas, while the solar car will keep right on traveling along.

The cars came in all shapes and sizes. All dependent on the teams design ideas to best harness the suns energy and get down the road to the finish line, hopefully first. Many of them were designed from the ground up, while some of them were built from off the shelf parts, but all had the enthusiasm of their participants to race in the biggest solar race in the world...to the finish. The teams themselves were from around the world, with the majority coming from Japan and Austrailia.

The Australian continent is about the same size as the continental United States and the World Solar Challenge (WSC) runs for 1800 miles (3000km) across it's expanse. This would be similar say to a race from New Orleans to Los Angeles, with the climates to match. And the WSC itself is held on a 2 lane, paved road called the 'Stewart Highway', which was finally fully paved in 1987.

If any of you have driven across the southwestern US, thru Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California (on say Route 66) you'll have an idea of what the country looked like.

There probably weren't more than a handful of stoplights across this whole distance and they were only in the 3 towns big enough to have them. And while I personally didn't see any kangaroos jumping around, I did see a few dead ones that had been hit by cars laying next to the road. Kangaroos are nocturnal and the driving is VERY dangerous at night. The cars and trucks that travel these roads on a regular basis have huge bumper guards and splatter shields on them.

Of course this was just one of the obstacles that the racers and cars had to endure. Others were weather, traffic, equipment failures, and fatigue, to name a few. The teams who had the fewest problems (or maybe the most amount of luck) were near the top at the finish and the others...well let's just say that the race was 10 days long. The winner, Honda, came in on day 4.

The WSC, which has been held every 3 years since 1987, has now been changed to every 2 years. Thanks go to the city of Adelaide for purchasing the rights from Hans Tholstrup, who started the whole thing rolling when he drove a solar car across parts of Austrailia just to show it was possible.

For those of you who are interested, it's time to start saving your money so that you can attend the next race in 1998.

Of course given the type of race it is you really need to be part of a team to make it all worthwhile, so start making those contacts. Or maybe start designing and building your own car to enter in the race. One things for sure though - IF you enter, make sure you test your car and all your spare equipment out BEFORE you get to Austrailia. Don't wait like some of the teams did and try and complete your car before the start of the race. You'll be doomed to disapointment, have spent alot of money, and have no (or very little) fun Down Under, because you'll be working on the car day and night.

If possible leave plenty of extra time for sightseeing because Austrailia DOES have some great sights to visit.

Gooday Mate, from Down Under.

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

11/19/96 - Toyota to Bet $800M
Annually on AFV Projects
Japan - Toyota Motor Corp. has committed about $800 million per year - more than any other automaker - for alternative-fueled vehicle (AFV) research and development projects, reports Automotive News. The amount represents more than half of what Nissan Motor Co. spent on both its alternative-fueled and conventionally powered vehicle research and development programs in all of this fiscal year. And, General Motors spent only $350 million - over several years - for its EV1 electric car. The executive director of GM's Advanced Technology Vehicles Program, Bob Purcell, said Toyota's commitment is very important for the industry and will cause may suppliers that have been merely watching from the sidelines to jump in and add significantly to the overall investment. Toyota's earlier investments allowed it to roll out its first electric car, the RAV4, in only one year.

11/18/96 - High-Efficiency EV Air Conditioner
in Vehicle Tests
San Mateo, Calif. - Glacier Bay, Inc. has completed installation of its high-efficiency air conditioner in an electric vehicle (EV), a system that the company says is more than 30 percent more efficient than any unit tested to date by the Electric Power Research Institute. The first unit has been installed in a PIVCO City Bee electric car that is being used in a station car project in Walnut Creek, Calif. In a heat soak test, the unit dropped the vehicle's cabin temperature from 120 degrees Fahrenheit to 72 degrees faster than what a gasoline-powered car sitting in traffic could have, said a company engineer. Over the next 18 months, the company will work to improve system performance, reduce its size and incorporate heating functions as part of a cost-shared program with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

11/15/96 - Yuasa's New EV Battery
Gives 93-Mile Range
Japan - Yuasa Corp. says its new lead-acid electric vehicle (EV) battery will power an EV about 93 miles, about 40 percent farther than existing lead-acid batteries, reports Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Each individual battery weighs just under 40 pounds, or about 14 percent lighter than standard batteries. Yuasa said the battery's life is 1,000 cycles, which is roughly equivalent to five years of use, which the company says is double that of existing batteries.

11/14/96 - Yamaha's New Electric
Bike to Sell for $790
Tokyo - Yamaha Motor Co.'s new electric bicycle, compared to its current model, will be 36 percent cheaper and travel one-third farther on a single charge, reports Reuters. The new bike, which has a range of 18.6 miles - versus 12.4 miles for the previous model - will go on sale in Japan January 15 and be priced at $790 (87,800 yen), versus $1,233 for its current bike. Yamaha has already sold 100,000 units of its present model since its 1995 launch; the company has set a 1997 sales target of 100,000 of the new bikes. Honda Motor Co., Yamaha's major competitor for electric bikes, sold 36,320 of its bikes in 1995 and expects 1996 sales to hit 60,000 units.

11/13/96 - New York Voters Approve
Clean-Air Bond Act
New York - New York voters have approved a bond issue that will provide $230 million for air-quality projects, including $75 million for low-emission buses and electric vehicles (EVs), reports NGVCommunications. The funding from the $1.75 billion Clean Air, Clean Water Bond Act of 1996 will provide matching funds for state and municipal governments interested in purchasing clean-fuel buses and EVs, as well as provide grants for refueling stations and equipment. The state's Office of General Services will also be performing tests and evaluations of the various clean-fuel technologies.

11/18/96 - Toyota Set to Mass-Produce
Hybrid EVs in 1997
Japan - Toyota Motor Corp. will begin mass-production of a hybrid electric vehicle in 1997 that has double the fuel economy - and half the emissions - of a conventional gasoline-powered car, reports Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The Japanese newspaper reports Toyota plans to build tens of thousands of the new hybrid by the end of 1997, priced at about $22,500. The car will reportedly achieve mileage of 70-84 miles per gallon. The car is fitted with a 1,500-cc gasoline-powered engine that drives a generator that supplies power to the vehicle's electric drive motor, which uses energy more efficiently than a conventional powertrain. Toyota first announced its hybrid car concept at the 13th International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS13) in Osaka, Japan, calling it the "Prius."

Upcomming EVents

Upcoming EVents

Local SEVA Activities

o General Meeting, Saturday, December 14th, at 10am.
o Board Meeting, Monday, December 16th, at 7pm.
o General Meeting, Saturday, January 11th at 10am.
o Board Meeting, Monday, January 13th at 7pm.
o General Meeting, Saturday, February 8th at 10am.
o Board Meeting, Monday, February 10th at 7pm.
o General Meeting, Saturday, March 8th at 10am.
o Board Meeting, Monday, March 10th at 7pm.

Bay Area/Modesto Activities

o Convert It: The Workshop (hands-on) , January 22-27, 1997

National/International EV Activities

o NATIONAL EAA ELECTIONS. Ballots due by Dec. 15th!
o 2nd SAE Global Vehicle Development Conference, December 2-5
o 1996 North American EV & Infrastructure Conference, Dec 11-13
o APS Electrics, Phoenix, Arizona, March 7-9, 1997

Contents:
Board Meeting Minutes	Editors Corner	EVS-13 Report
EV News Bits	Upcoming EVents	Solar Cells Win	Solar Car Ahead