NBEAA Newsletter April 2, 2008 www.nbeaa.org UPCOMING NBEAA EVENTS ---------------------- Friday April 18, 2008, 7:30 AM to 2 PM Show-and-Tell at Santa Rosa Junior College Spring Forum: "Sustainable Society: Teaching the Environment at SRJC", at Shone Farm NOTE: this event is for SRJC FACULTY AND STAFF ONLY (previous newsletter said students, sorry about that) unless you are showing them your EV. Saturday, May 17, 2008, 10 AM - 4PM Luther Burbank Rose Parade and Festival, Downtown Santa Rosa The NBEAA will enter up to 4 vehicles in the parade again this year, but this time it will be followed by a show-and-tell booth at the following festival. See http://www.roseparadefestival.com for details. Saturday, June 14, 2008 Time and exact location details still forthcoming Meet with Ed Huestis, Vacaville City Fleet Manager, on site in Vacaville to discuss their PV powered EV charging stations, 25 city fleet RAV4EVs, local incentives provided for individuals to purchase EVs, and their order for the Phoenix Motorcars SUT with AltairNano batteries and AeroVironment charger that will charge the SUT in 10 minutes! Followed by a tour of their charging stations and EV fleet, then followed by EV show-and-tell and rides by those who attend the meeting by driving their EVs. OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS --------------------- Fellow EAA member Andrew Sinclair has invited us to the San Marin Improvement Association Car Show on May 10th in Novato. Entry donation is $20. Details are posted at http://www.sanmarin.org/. Please contact Andrew at andrewjsinclair@earthlink.net if you are interested in showing your EV. If you do end up going, please reply to tell Chris so he can update our calendar and put it as an NBEAA event. MORE LOCAL NBEAA MEMBERS IN THE NEWS ------------------------------------ On Sunday, March 16th in the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine section, NBEAA chapter president Chris Jones was quoted in an article about Mark Armstrong's Santa Rosa Junior College Alternative Fuel Vehicle program. See http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/03/16/CMC1U1GJ6.DTL for details. On Friday, March 28th in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, NBEAA PR director Stan Ireland, NBEAA member Robb Prothroe and NBEAA chapter president Chris Jones were quoted in an article about the local reaction to the CARB ZEV reduction. See http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080328/NEWS/803280385/1036/BUSINESS01 for details. AAA "GREEN LIGHT INITIATIVE" GRANT ---------------------------------- The NBEAA and the SRJC Alternative Fuel Vehicle Program will be applying for the AAA Green Light Initiative Grant, up to $50K given to up to several educational, non-profit and government groups per year for alternative fuel vehicle projects. CalCars.org received $10K from them last year to develop PHEV prototypes and share them with the public and lawmakers. Our request will be made for them to fund a prototype battery-only electric vehicle conversion using large format LiFePO4 batteries that is easily replicatable and supportable, and include all the documentation openly posted on the web such that businesses would be encouraged to set up shops to do this and work on volume discounts to lower the prices of the batteries. If you would like to help with this grant -- writing the application (which AAA promised is not to be too difficult), or working on the prototype or creating the documentation it if we do get it -- please reply to contact Chris Jones. CARB PIA EV RALLY AND PUBLIC HEARINGS ON 2008 ZEV MANDATE MARCH 26-27, 2008 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Stan Ireland, NBEAA PR Director See a picture of Stan sitting in a Tesla Roadster: http://www.nbeaa.org/new_jan_07/carb_stan.jpg. My trip to the Plug-In America (PIA) EV rally and California Air Resources Board (CARB) public hearings on the 2008 ZEV Mandate began at 5:30 am Wednesday morning. With a 93% state of charge (SOC) and a large cup of coffee, I headed east into the sunrise. NBEAA member Rob Stelling and his wife graciously offered to host me for breakfast at their home in Angwin, an hours drive from my home in Windsor. While my Rav4 EV received solar powered juice from Rob's home charger, I was eating waffles with Millie's homemade apple sauce. After my EV got a 30% refill and I had my fill of breakfast, Rob led the way over the hills and through the beautiful Pope Valley onward to downtown Sacramento. On Wednesday the 26th, PIA organized a rally held at the California EPA building, where the CARB hearings were to be held the following morning. Lined along I Street were many EVs; AC Propulsion's E-Box, Tesla Roadsters, many Toyota Rav4 EVs, a Ranger and an S-10 EV, a couple of plug-in Priuses (Prii?) several conversions and Rob Stelling's Rav4 EV conspicuous behind the podium. TV news crews and print reporters formed a semi-circle about the podium as the speakers began. Chelsea Sexton of 'Who Killed the Electric Car?" and PIA acted as MC. She introduced many passionate speakers on behalf of retaining the 2003 ZEV Mandate as is or making more stringent requirements of auto makers. James Woolsey, PIA Director and former cabinet member for two former US presidents, spoke of the need to reduce dependence on foreign oil and held up a $4.95 extension cord to illustrate the minimal investment needed for infrastructure to support plug-in hybrids (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV). A powerful counter point to the billions of dollars needed to develop a hydrogen fueling network. He made clear the fact that the US is spending $1 billion per day to finance our thirst for oil. Soon that number will reach $2 billion per day, most of which goes to foreign governments that either are directly or indirectly supporting those who wish to harm the United States. Sherry Boschert, president of the San Francisco Electric Vehicle Association and author of "Plug-In Hybrids: The Cars That Will Recharge America", spoke as a representative of the over 200,000 members of the Sierra Club in California. Ms. Boschert noted that at even if the current 2003 mandate of requiring 25,000 ZEVs by 2012-2014 is held, '...it will not be enough...' to reach carbon reduction goals. They took the position that the existing mandate does not go far enough. They want a floor of 100,000 ZEVs produced by that time period. A goal they say will be necessary in order to achieve the carbon reduction levels set forth for the years 2020 and eventually, 400,000 ZEVs to meet the overall 80% reductions in 2050. 'This amounts to less than 6,000 vehicles per year for each of the 6 major car companies...That's nothing...' stated Ms. Boschert, '... for an industry that sells more than 70 million cars world wide per year.' Diarmuid O'Connell of Tesla Motors, spoke to the current state of development and readiness of the battery electric vehicle (BEV) and alluded to plans Tesla has for production of a BEV sedan and compact sports sedan in 2010 and 2012 respectively. Mr. O'Connell stated that if the 2003 ZEV mandate was left untouched, 'Tesla Motors alone, could meet the ZEV production requirements for Phase II (2009-2011) for all manufacturers in California.' Phase II requires 2,500 ZEVs produced in that time period. Tesla also suggested the minimum requirements be raised. He noted that Tesla has been a catalyst for the major manufacturers to rethink their position on BEVs and PHEVs. He is perplexed that CARB still asserts that no manufacturer has produced a commercially available ZEV to date. As Rob and I circulated along I Street, we saw many EV advocates and fellow EAA members. Don McGrath made it to the rally as well as Marc Geller, Ron Freund, Paul Scott, Alexandra Paul, Linda Nichols, Earl Killian, and many others representing EAA chapters from around the state. Notable was the large contingent from southern California and the South Bay Area. Tom Dowling of EVchargernews.com was there as well. And prowling the sidewalk was Doug Korthoff with his bullhorn, trying to get the crowd riled up with EV slogans and pointed barbs at the Air Resources Board. The public and passing drivers took great interest in the rally. It was a good opportunity to relate our experiences as EV drivers. As the rally ended, Rob and I headed for the park by the capitol where Tesla Motors was offering views and rides in one of five Roadsters. Although we didn't catch a ride, we were able to sit in a beautiful blue Tesla Roadster. I looked good, pretty darned good! (See photo link at the beginning of the article.) Rob, at 6'5" was able to slip in just fine, but the egress took a bit of foot wiggling on his part and some some stifled laughing on my part, before Rob extricated himself. Thursday morning was what we were all here for, CARB public hearings on the 2008 ZEV mandate revisions. My wife Lisa joined Rob and I in the auditorium for the first of 65 speakers signed up to present in front of the board. My overall impression as the meeting progressed was that the board wanted to "...signal to the stakeholders that the board was serious about the mandate..." said Chair Nichols. Member Sperling was worried that the board might take a "...step back" in regards to the floor of ZEVs required. Member Balmes wondered what would happen if "...we did nothing to the ZEV requirements...". Member D'Adamo was specific about staff's recommended threshold being "...too low...". I had a spark of hope that the board would hold the auto manufacturers to their 2003 promises. The hearing brought witness testimony from EV advocates, hydrogen advocates, the fuel cell industry, Ford, Honda, Mitsubishi, BMW, Daimler, Mercedes-Benz, Shell Oil, Nissan, Volkswagen, Toyota, Union of Concerned Scientists (UoCS), Natural Resources Defense Concil (NRDC), Sierra Club California, EV owners, Phoenix Motorcars, Tesla, representatives from the State of New York and other concerned citizens. Spencer Qwan of the UoCS testified that they have identified "...no less than nine loopholes in the recommended amendments...", through which the auto companies could drive their agenda. The board took interest in those loopholes and asked staff to look into it. He also concurred with the Sierra Club in that by their numbers, "...379,000 pure ZEVs need to be on the road in 2020 in order to meet global warming goals.". Several witnesses testified to the disparity in credits awarded between fuel cell vehicles (FCV) and BEVs. Most wanted more parity in that area. Also, people suggested that plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) get more consideration for higher credits. The NRDC made a suggestion for a new Silver+ category to strengthen that portion of the ZEV amendments addressing PHEVs. Another area covered by several witnesses was the issue of the "Travel Provisions" in the mandate. A Travel Provision allows for a manufacturer to receive credit for a ZEV in California, then "place" the very same vehicle in another status 177 state (states adopting CA's ZEV mandate). In practice, the auto manufacturer would be double dipping, getting credit for two ZEVs in California while producing only one actual ZEV. Also, there seems to be no provisions to require manufacturers to sell their ZEVs to the public thus allowing the possibility of repeating the hostile takeover of leased EVs. Transparency in reporting existing CARB credits and any trades of those credits among manufacturers was a hot button issue. As it stands now, manufacturers are not required to be 100% transparent in their credit dealings. The board seemed in favor of 100% transparency, rejecting big auto's cries of protecting their market positions without tipping off competitors by any such requirements. As we listened to testimony, Lisa was receiving e-mail updates and responses to witness testimony from the Rav4EVchargernews group. As Dave Flannigan of UTC Power, a fuel cell company working with big auto, proudly announced that "...21 of the FCVs in California have logged over 10,000 hours in operation and over 200,000 miles driven...", we received a message from Will Becket that an EAA member survey revealed that "...members had driven a total of over 8.5 million miles on California roads." since the inception of the ZEV mandate. If that isn't a dramatic depiction of the reality of viability between these two technologies, BEV vs. FCV, I don't what could be a more compelling example. In 18 years, the best FCV can do is 200,000 miles! Most of the big auto manufacturers complained that the proposed mandate amendments didn't go far enough. They wanted a much slower phase in for ZEVs. BMW complained that if the 2,500 minimum were raised, they would have to shut down their FCV program. Other auto companies echoed the sentiment and felt more time, money and help form the state was needed to fully realize fuel cell potential. David Green of the Department of Energy, spoke to the state of H2 and fuel cell research and development, presented a graph of what that development would look like in 2014 if mandates were revised upward pf staff recommendations. Essentially, Bad if you raise it, good if you don't. He estimated another $25 billion needed to fully develop FCV technology and infrastructure. Witness testimony continued with personal accounts of EV driving experiences, pleas from people who have lost loved ones to lung disease and for the board to fight to clean our air and work to protect Californians, not corporations. Bonnie Holmes-Gen, Assist. VP Gov't Relations for the American Lung Association, spoke about the annual cost to California in lung related diseases, deaths, school absenteeism and work labor losses. She stated that California "...will spend over $2 billion on lung related problems." Big auto and fuel cell developers complained of having to spend about $1 billion per year on R & D. As public testimony ended, the board directed staff to include some issues raised, both in written and public testimony, in revisions for the mandate. The 15 day period after the vote is allotted for the changes to be made public and available for comment. Member D'Adamo made a motion to increase the 2012-2014 Phase III level floor to 10,000 ZEVs. After some discussion, the board differed to member Sperling's motion for a floor of 7,500 ZEVs with an increase of PHEVs by 2015-2017 Phase IV. The vote to reduce the mandate for ZEVs in phase III to 7,500 vehicles, a 70% reduction from the 2003 levels, was unanimous with Member Loveridge absent. One can only conclude that the Air Resources Board is too heavily invested in FCV technology to give any substantial support for BEV technology. It's clear we cannot count on CARB to aid our cause. The market may very well be the place to fight to get BEVs on the road. Support only those manufacturers that will offer the technology we want. PIA is now focused on getting their message to the legislature, both statewide and national. We too can work with our local representatives. Many have no clue as to how battery electric vehicles can meet most of our transportation needs, meet global warming GHG reduction goals and deliver us from the bondage of foreign oil. As I was driving hwy 80 West to charge in Vallejo, I received a call from a Press Democrat reporter, Nathaniel Halverson. was pretty cool to be able to tell him I drove 107 miles to the hearings and 107 miles back, all in a technology that doesn't work! I hope that every Californian will have the opportunity to experience what we EV drivers already know, BEV meet most of our transportation needs, guilt free! (See link to article written by Halverson above under the More Local NBEAA Members in the News section.) It was an interesting two days, an insightful discovery of how state government really works and a pleasure to meet others in the EV community as passionate about this cause as we here in Sonoma County. Go to the ARB website to see a summary of their actions at: www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/zevprog/zevreview/summary.pdf Go to Plug-In America's site to get their take on the hearings: www.pluginamerica.com