NBEAA Newsletter March 10, 2008 UPDATED 3/27/08 www.nbeaa.org UPCOMING CARB ZEV MANDATE MEETING ------------- A very important California Air Resources Board public meeting will be held on March 27 for amendments to the ZEV mandate. Please go to the CARB website, www.arb.ca.gov, to see the agenda. To read the reports and make public comment online go to http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php. Many EVers from other EAA chapters should be in attendance, as well as representatives from Plug-in America, www.pluginamerica.com. If you wish to attend the public hearing, please contact our Chapter Public Relations Director Stan Ireland at irelandsl@hotmail.com so carpooling can be arranged. 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 This event is for SRJC FACULTY AND STAFF only (previously said students), but if you are interested in showing them your EV, please contact Chapter President Chris Jones at chris_b_jones@prodigy.net. 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. If you would like to enter or show your EV, please contact Chapter Public Relations Director Stan Ireland at irelandsl@hotmail.com. For more details about the parade and festival, see http://www.roseparadefestival.com. Saturday, June 14, 2008 Time and exact location details 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. LOCAL NBEAA MEMBERS IN THE NEWS ------------------- On Sunday March 9th, the Press Democrat ran an article on the front page of the Business section titled "Amped on Dragbikes". The article included interviews with NBEAA members Brian Hall, owner of Thunderstruck Motors; Robb Protheroe, owner of Plug-In Supply; and NBEAA Chapter President Chris Jones. You can read the article and see Brian's picture at http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080309/NEWS/803090348. LOCAL NEV FOR SALE ------------ "I have a cute 1999 Bombadier N.E.V.. Needs a brake job now and batteries eventually but otherwise runs well. Will accept any reasonable offer. This is destined to become a collectors car." Price is "Make an offer." See EV Tradin' Post ad at http://www.austinev.org/evtradinpost/index.php?list=advertisement&method=showdetails&rollid=2188. See information about recent maintenance performed by Chapter President Chris Jones at http://www.geocities.com/chris_b_jones@prodigy.net/EV/bombardier_log.htm. Note that although this NEV runs, its current batteries are not suitable for regular deep discharging as required by EVs, so rapid degradation is expected. See the following article for more information. Furthermore, the batteries, being located below the vehicle, are difficult to remove. A professional vehicle lift should be used, but a battery pack dolly is included with the purchase of the vehicle. EV BATTERY EDUCATION -------------------------- By Chris Jones, Chapter President The September 26, 2007 NBEAA newsletter contained a misleading ad for used Dynasty Multi Purpose Series batteries from Training for Safety for EV use. They were purchased by three of us, and were installed in at least two vehicles, including and the NEV listed in the above ad. These batteries ended up having <70% capacity, but more importantly, they are the wrong type of battery for an EV, degrading significantly further after only a few months of EV service in one vehicle. An inadequate exchange-only agreement was set up, and the batteries weren't capacity tested within the agreed upon 30 days of purchase, so Training for Safety is not obligated to exchange any of the $1000 worth of batteries purchased. Due to these big mistakes I have offered to personally refund the three purchasers. The following battery types appear to be suitable for EV "deep cycle, long life, high power" use. NOTE: Independently verify this by contacting the manufacturers directly yourself before making any purchases. AGM: B.B. Batteries EVP Concorde Lifeline EnerSys Odyssey, Genesis Optima Yellow Top, Blue Top LiFePO4: Thunder Sky LFP Valence Epoch If you know of other batteries that are a good match for EVs, or have a question about another type of battery not on this list, please reply to this newsletter and I will look in to it and share what we find with the club. I am very sorry for all of the trouble this has caused.