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Herein is a pictoral library of North Bay Chapter meetings and events for the year 2002. We'll try to provide images so that those who couldn't make it to one of those meetings/events might at least get a little bit of the flavor. These pictures are also meant to bring back memories of meetings/events gone by, and to serve for posterity - "Hey, there really were EVs then and there!"
2002 Events: Thunderstruck,SweetMotors,Toyota,ZapWorld,Transmagnetics,Smith's Golf Cars,ALA,Clare Bell,ALA Walk,Fetzer,Huestis,Multi-Contact USA
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February 23, 2002 @Thunderstruck Motors
Our February meeting was held at Thunderstruck Motors in Santa Rosa on a damp rainy day. The North Bay Chapter held a joint meeting with the East Bay Chapter. This meeting served as a revival of sorts for the North Bay Chapter, which had had only sporadic meetings for the last year or two. We inaugurated Dr. Nick Carter as the new chapter president. Brian Hall showed us some interesting EV machinery that Thunderstruck is developing. And EV'ers from the two chapters got to talk and learn from each other and to have fun. All in all, it definitely made up for the rainy weather.
Scott Cornell and Ed Thorpe of the East Bay Chapter had a digital camera war and provided the following excellent images. Click on a thumbnail to see the full-sized image...
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March 9, 2002 @SweetMotors.com
Our March hosts were Terry and Karen Sweet, of SweetMotors.com, a Corbin Sparrow dealership in Santa Rosa. North Bay EV'ers were treated to donuts while being given the latest on the details of this EV business. After this discussion, people were given the opportunity to take the SweetMotors flock out for 2D flights 'round the block. Two of these Sparrows are in the February 23 pictures above.
We have a thumbnail for the beautiful "Flock of SPARROWS" image provided courtesy of Corbin Motors. We will also post some images of the SweetMotors meeting as they become available.
April 13, 2002 @Freeman Toyota
From Toyota website: Click image to go to source.
April 13th found the NBEAA at Freeman Toyota in Santa Rosa. The main interest of most EV'ers attending this meeting was the new RAV-4 EV, which had been recently made available for sale or lease. RAV-4 EVs in years past had only been available to fleets, and not to the general public.
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May 11, 2002 @ZapWorld
Gary Starr, CEO of Zap, and Steve Schneider, President of Voltage Vehicles, gave us a presentation of the planned merger of their two companies. Afterwards, NBEAA'ers tried out various EVs ranging from the Solectria Force, GEM, Th!nk City, to smaller vehicles like the Zap bikes.
June 8, 2002 @Transmagnetics
For June 8, the NBEAA chapter found itself at Transmagnetics, a Cotati company working with small vehicles such as scooters and bikes. President Joe Stephenson and Design Engineer Arby Bernt are focused on high-efficiency brushless DC motors. The topic of the meeting was "Brushless is Better".
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July 13, 2002 @Smith's Golf Cars
Smith's Golf Cars sells a large variety of electric golf cars and utility vehicles. Service facilities are also on-site. NBEAA'ers were treated to a show 'n tell of these vehicles and numerous 24V and 36V electric bikes, including the awesome 36V Lee Iacocca E-Bike. Smith's also has many old, very interesting photos of the Bay Area on the walls, some of which can be seen in the images below.
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August 10, 2002 @American Lung Association
Jenny Bard, the Communications/Fundraising Director for the American Lung Association of California's Redwood Empire Branch, discussed lung health and the factors that affect it. The discussion revolved around current air pollution standards, regional air pollution (specifically mentioning the Central Valley's air pollution and its varied sources), and how EVs and other "green" vehicles can help.
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September 14, 2002 @Vintage Oaks Shopping Center
The gazebo next to Costco in Novato was the location of the September meeting of the NBEAA. The featured speaker was Clare Bell, longtime EV supporter, past editor of the EAA's publication "Current EVents", and currently an EV consultant. Clare gave an accounting of her EV experiences, in particular her stint at
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September 29, 2002 @American Lung Association walk
The NBEAA chapter formed the team "Charging Forward with Electrics!" to help raise funds for the American Lung Association's Blow the Whistle on Asthma Walk. The walk was 2.1 miles through beautiful Spring Lake Park in Santa Rosa. The chapter displayed EVs in this event alongside many other teams' and organizations' display areas.
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October 12, 2002 @Fetzer Vineyards
The NBEAA chapter visited Fetzer Vineyards in Hopland to become acquainted with the business' 3E environmental program. Patrick Healy, Environmental Manager, and Brad Campbell, Design Engineer, described Fetzer's electric vehicles (including Ford Ranger EV pickup trucks, NEVs and utility vehicles), organic growing practices, widespread recycling and the use of photovoltaic panels to generate electricity at the site.
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November 9, 2002 @Napa Premium Outlets
The EAA North Bay and East Bay chapters held a joint meeting adjacent to the food court at Napa Premium Outlets. Ed Huestis, Transportation Systems Manager for the City of Vacaville, gave a presentation of his electric vehicle program's accomplishments, including over 70 EV1s leased to city residents. The success of the program has become so widely known that it has lent the name "Voltageville" to the city. Ed drove his beautiful bright red GM GenII NiMH EV1 in from Vacaville, and Nick Carter (NBEAA chapter president) drove his Ford
This shopping center has two charging stations in the back: one inductive and one conductive.
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December 14, 2002 @Multi-Contact USA
Multi-Contact USA contracted with Sine Electric of Santa Rosa for a battery grid-intertied solar installation. The installation provides a number of benefits. One benefit is to improve the power reliability: when a grid power outage occurs, Multi-Contact's own installation provides power from the batteries, and if available, from the PV array. Another benefit is to provide clean power to the grid: when the PV array is providing more power than Multi-Contact's offices need, the power can be put on the grid for others to use. Multi-Contact has an 11kW PV array, Xantrex grid-intertie inverter, battery bank, and other equipment, some of which is shown in the pictures below.
The symbiosis of electric vehicles (EVs) and renewable energy, such as solar, is a major reason why the NBEAA has chosen to have several meetings at solar installations. EVs can not only draw power from a source (whether it be an off-grid/grid-intertie renewable energy installation or a natural gas, coal, or nuclear-powered grid), but also, if properly configured with an inverter and protocol, can act as a load-leveling power source during grid peak-power usage, drawing on the vehicle's battery pack. The EV can provide a whole new paradigm for energy usage, both for stationary installations and transportation use.
NBEAA's meeting day at Multi-Contact was not a day to stand outside and view the solar panels some fifteen feet over our heads. Instead, we stayed dry inside, and admired the battery grid-intertie installation as Steve Lyons, owner of Sine Electric, explained the details of the power-center, the grid-intertie inverter, monitoring software, two battery banks, and miles of conduit to hook everything up. Outside, the PV array stood up against the wind-lashed rain provided courtesy of an El Nino-like rainy season.
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Last update: July 28, 2005