NBEAA Newsletter August 14, 2008 www.nbeaa.org UPCOMING EAA EVENTS ------------------- Saturday, August 30, 2008 10 AM - 4 PM Napa County Airport EV Show-and-Tell at the Experimental Aircraft Association (the other EAA) Napa Airport Day Saturday, September 6, 2008 10 AM to 4 PM Palo Alto High School Silicon Valley EAA EV Rally www.eaasv.org/rally.html Sunday, September 7, 2008 10 AM to 5 PM Hewlett Packard Building #48 Auditorium, Cupertino EV Conversion Workshop: "Converting Your Car to Electric" Presented by Mike Brown and Shari Prange of Electro Automotive www.electroauto.com/workshopEAA-08.shtml OTHER EV RELATED EVENTS ----------------------- Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008, 5:00 PM E. Washington Street at Lakeville Road, Petaluma MoveOn.org Rally for Clean Energy "On August 19, we're releasing reports around the country with new state-by-state data detailing what billions we give Big Oil in tax breaks could buy in the way of clean energy projects and job creation. We'll tell John McCain and the Republicans: don't use our tax dollars for Big Oil giveaways – invest in a clean energy future instead." Link to RSVP: http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=50314&id=13472-230719-2h5_brx&t=3 ZEV MANDATE CHANGES OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ------------------------------------------- From the ZEV2008 mailing list: "The Air Resources Board has posted the 15-Day Notice of Public Availability of Modified Text and Modified Text for the 2008 Amendments to the California Zero Emission Vehicle Regulation. These documents and the associated "formal" regulatory materials can be accessed from our website at the address: http://www.arb.ca.gov/regact/2008/zev2008/zev2008.htm The modifications are open for public comment until August 15, 2008. Please submit any comments here: http://www.arb.ca.gov/lispub/comm/bclist.php" NBEAA MEMBERS TO TEACH EV CONVERSION CLASSES -------------------------------------------- Peter Oliver will be teaching a new electric vehicle conversion only class, DET 193, this fall semester at the Santa Rosa Junior College. Classes start August 24th and will be held Saturdays from 9 AM to 5 PM with 2 hours of lecture and 6 hours of lab. Sign up at www.santarosa.edu or contact Peter at peter@makemineelectric.com for more information. Note: the NBEAA/SRJC have made the finals for the AAA Greenlight Initiative grant that may help fund this program in 2009. Other alternative fuel vehicle grants including ones being given by Google and PG&E will also be investigated. See www.nbeaa.org/osev for details. If you would like to help with this effort, please contact Chris at chris_b_jones@prodigy.net or (707)577-2391 (weekdays). Ed Ristad will be teaching DET 190 and DET 191 Alternative Fuel Classes at the SRJC this fall. Topics covered include EV and biofuel conversions. This is the class that Mark Armstrong has been teaching for a few years, who hosted us last May at their new PV installation and EV charging open house event. See www.santarosa.edu to sign up and for more details. Ed will also be teaching TR101, "Build or Buy an Electric Vehicle", in Hopland on Sunday September 21 at the Solar Living Institute in Hopland. Sign up at www.solarliving.org/store/product.asp?catid=13&pid=1876. (Instructor bio not yet updated as of 8/6/08). Ed will also be presenting a 4 hour talk on Electric Vehicles at the West Coast Green Conference on Saturday, September 27 from 1:00-5:00 pm. See www.westcoastgreen.com for details. NBEAA MEMBER STARTS EV CONVERSION BUSINESS ------------------------------------------ NBEAA member Peter Oliver has opened a new EV conversion business, Make Mine Electric, in Sebastopol. He is specializing in LiFePO4 AC powered kit cars. See www.makemineelectric.com or call 823-2658 for details. NEW NBEAA EVS HIT THE ROAD -------------------------- John Warobiew has a second EV on the road, a 1993 CityCom CityEl. See www.evalbum.com/1905 for details. He already drives a 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI with an Electro Automotive VoltsRabbit kit. See www.evalbum.com/1240 for details. He also recently upgraded a 1993 Ford Ranger Pickup to a tilt bed; he has since sold it. See www.evalbum.com/1844 for details. Peter Oliver has converted a Porche Speedster kit car to LiFePO4 and AC power. See www.evalbum.com/1683 for details. NBEAA MEETING IN VACAVILLE WITH ED HUESTIS ------------------------------------------ On Saturday, June 14, approximately 20 people attended an NBEAA meeting at Vacaville City Hall where Transportation Manager Ed Heustis presented the EV portion of his nationally recognized Alternative Fuels Program -- 25 RAV4EV city fleet, 10 public charging stations, local incentives for new EV purchases, and solar powered charging stations -- all paid for by grants. See http://www.nbeaa.org/new_jan_07/EAAEVJUN08.pdf for slides he presented to us. Some of us charged our EVs there at city hall during the meeting, then we caravaned over to the Bella Vista PV covered charging station and charged there while we walked over to Mary's Pizza for lunch. See http://www.nbeaa.org/new_jan_07/vacaville_charging.jpg for a picture of 6 of us charging there. The following 8 EVs were at the meeting for sharing and rides: - John Warobiew and his 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI conversion, www.evalbum.com/1240 - Gene Watson and his 1994 Pontiac conversion, www.belktronix.com/pgpconv.html - Chris Jones' 1966 Ford Mustang conversion, www.evalbum.com/733. See www.geocities.com/chris_b_jones@prodigy.net/EV/pix/swp_rv_charging.jpg for picture of him charging at an RV park in Napa with his kids while camping on the way to the meeting. - Mike Rydjord and his Solectria Force with new Greensaver batteries, http://www.nbeaa.org/new_jan_07/rydjord.htm - Stan and Lisa Ireland and their 2002 Toyota RAV4EV, http://www.nbeaa.org/new_jan_07/ireland.jpg - Ed Huestis' Toyota RAV4EV - Tom Dowling's Toyota RAV4EV - Dave Heacock's 1985 Avanti conversion (under construction): http://www.nbeaa.org/new_jan_07/heacock/heacock.htm. See Video and pictures of Dave Heacock's Avanti's wheels turning with electric power at www.aoai.org/avantiltd/delta08.htm. Many of us left inspired to do similar things in our communities. We are focusing first on getting more EV charging stations near the downtowns and other magnet areas, particularly in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties, where there are very few charging stations compared to other Northern California metropolitan areas. If you would like to help with this effort, please contact Chris per above. NBEAA GETS THE WORD OUT ABOUT EVS --------------------------------- Chris Jones and Stan Ireland showed their EVs at the Way to Go Expo at the Santa Rosa Farmers Market August 13th. Chris and Stan showed Chris' Mustang EV conversion at the Marin County Fair July 2nd-6th. Chris was about out of charge when he arrived, but he was able to charge up by a Solar Rover PV generator. Tesla founder Martin Eberhard mentioned Chris' "very nice ‘66 Mustang convertible conversion" in his keynote address as well as in his blog entry about the event that also includes his slides at http://teslafounders.wordpress.com/. Chris was interviewed by KRON TV channel 4, and his car was featured on KQED TV channel 9. He was also interviewed prior to the event by the Vallejo Times Herald. Chris showed his Mustang and Stan and Lisa Ireland showed their RAV4 EV to Congressman Mike Thompson at his supporters' Pasta Feed dinner in Santa Rosa on June 22nd. He showed sincere interest and responded favorably when asked to support federal incentives for electric vehicles and renewable energy generators. They will be attending a similar event along with Don McGrath August 16th in St. Helena where they may have the chance to speak again with Congressman Thompson as well as Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Stan and Chris met with State Senator Patricia Wiggins back in January who also responded favorably and asked for sample legislation; we may also suggest doing this for our congressional representative and leader. If you would like to help with this effort, please contact Chris per above. We will recruit others from the EAA as well in this effort if their response is favorable. Chris and Stan also showed their EVs at the American Lung Association Breathe Easy Ride at Sonoma Mountain Village in Rohnert Park on June 28. See www.nbeaa.org/new_jan_07/past_meetings.htm for details on past events. Please contact Stan at irelandsl@hotmail.com if you would like to help show your EV at similar upcoming show and tell events.