SEVA Meeting Minutes – February 2017
SEVA Meeting Minutes: February 14, 2017, called to order. Officers introduced.
ANNUAL MEETING – The annual meeting per our by-laws was called to order by Vice-President Mark Schiller.
PROPOSAL FOR DIVERSITY – The first order of business was in the form of a question: How can SEVA break out in ways that will make the membership more diverse? It has been pointed out that automobile shows nationwide tend to skew toward white, older, and male. SEVA has pledged to investigate ways to break out of this mold.
ALTERNATE SEVA VENUES – It was suggested that SEVA explore alternative venues, such as libraries and schools. Finding air time on radio stations is another good idea for outreach. The idea was brought up of working more closely with other organizations, not just EV specific ones but other groups like the Sierra Club, WashPirg, Solar groups etc. An audience member suggested posting articles to smaller local papers such as the South Seattle Emerald.
Car shows were encouraged at college campuses, a point which President Johnsen strongly supported. Member Fredrich said Edmonds Community College was interested in having an EV car show and he would follow up with that. Working with NEDRA was suggested as younger generations tend to be attracted to the extreme performance offered by electric motors!
Rotating meeting locations are also a consideration and the idea was floated to alternate meeting locations. Some people were concerned about people not remembering which month was which and showing up at the old location. Lee Colleton volunteered to come to the normal Seattle church location and set up a video conferencing system so that on months when the meeting was being held elsewhere, it could be broadcast to the Seattle location as well.
NEW MEETING EQUIPMENT – President Johnsen mentioned that the SEVA Board had planned to get a new dedicated SEVA laptop with external audio speakers suitable for projecting video and sound at meetings. A number of folks in the audience seemed to like this idea and the idea of showing exciting EV Related YouTube videos at the meetings.
SEVA MEETING SPEAKER TOPICS – On the topic of how to get exciting topics and speakers to speak at the meetings the audience was encouraged to suggest people of interest and/or create their own presentations and email them to president@seattleeva.org
It was suggested that SEVA should figure out how to engage new EV or would-be EV owners and address some of the issues facing them such as charging and specifically charging for apartment dwellers.
There were a great many good ideas shared, Jeff Finn reminded the audience that it is easy to come up with ideas and suggestions but the SEVA Board members put in so much of their own time already and it is far more helpful to actually suggest something and then actually DO that thing rather than just making a suggestion.
REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING – The Regular Monthly Meeting was called to order. Officers introduced. 22 persons in attendance.
FEATURED EV OF THE MONTH – This month the featured EV was the Lucid Air a new 400 mile per charge concept from new EV startup Lucid. The unique looking vehicle has a very modern interior and while there was not one in the SEVA parking lot, prototypes are being shown and driven around in California.
LEGAL ANNOUNCEMENT, ELECTION OF OFFICERS – The February meeting included elections to fill the offices of Vice-President and Treasurer. Call for candidates was made by President Johnsen to the membership and nobody new was nominated. Secretary Boze announced 3 times the opportunity for new nominations but none were made. The incumbent candidates were re-elected by a general voice vote with everyone in favor and zero “nays” and zero abstaining. Mark Schiller will continue as SEVA Vice President and Mark Yormark will continue as SEVA Treasurer.
2017 UPCOMING CAR SHOWS AND EVENTS: At the SEVA Board meeting, it was again decided that each Board Member would take leadership for a specific car show.
- FEBRUARY 17: This is the deadline to submit abstracts for topics to present at the World Electric Vehicle Symposium in Stuttgart Germany. Visit: papers.evs30.org. The actual event will be in early October 2017.
- MARCH 25: There may be a car show opportunity this day. Jeff Finn will announce the details as they become available.
- APRIL 19: EARTH DAY AT BELLEVUE COLLEGE – The car show will be an all-day event. There is charging available, including DC fast charging and L2, and there are suitable outlets for L1 charging. The fun starts on April 19th (a Wednesday). Last year’s show was an unqualified success and it’s a full day of talking with the younger generation in the main courtyard of Bellevue College’s campus. Please email President Johnsen at: hpev.llc@gmail.com for more info.
- MAY 7: SEVA SPRING CAR SHOW AT ISSAQUAH TRIPLE X — Mark your calendars for this ever-popular Mother’s Day car show. As usual there will be great comraderie and burgers and rootbeer. Contact Phil Skoog for more info: pskoog4@gmail.com
- JUNE 24: GREENWOOD AUTO SHOW – 24th of June, a Saturday. We will no longer be in the old Walgreen’s parking lot (that space is being developed), but the show must go on, and you can sign up for it as of today. Vice President Schiller passed out car show sheets and announced that SEVA would be paying the first $15 toward the admission cost for local members while also covering the full cost for members and friends who bring EVs from far and wide. For more information please email Mark at: vicepresident@seattleeva.org.
- JULY 23: RENTON RIVER DAYS – We’ll be in Renton for July 23rd, and thanks to a great deal of work on Treasurer Yormark’s part, for the first time ever SEVA is being granted some of the best real estate in the whole show! There is room for up to 13 cars right near the skate park on the grass between the many food vendors and the regular River Days festival. This show will get TONS of passersby from people of all ages and it has food and live music so you won’t want to miss it! To sign up, contact Mark at: mark.yormark@gmail.com
FUN FACT OF THE DAY – In Norway, EVs have captured nearly 40% of the market share for that country.
HYUNDAI AND VOLVO ARE ENTERING THE EV MARKET – President Johnsen shared some photos with the membership and announced that the Hyundai Ioniq EV will be at dealers this month with 124 mile range and a starting price of just $29,500!
When speaking to JD Power and Associates, the CEO of Audi North America Scott Keogh said of EVs, “…the technology on this front is moving a t a staggering pace. You’re going to be looking at a market place in the next seven, eight, nine, ten years where for 30 or 40 some brands their entire business is going to be battery electric vehicles.” Amazing words from a big name in the auto industry.
Altman Viilandrie and Company released a study which found that 60% of Americans still do not know that EVs exist! It is easy for SEVA members to forget we are still in our own little bubble and there is still much education and advocacy to do!
NEW EV STARTUP IN MEXICO? — Will you be seeing a “Giant” EV on your next trip south of the border? The 4th richest person in the world, Carlos Slim, is starting a new electric vehicle company.
EVS-30 IS COMING!! October 9-11 in Stuttgart Germany, the world EV Symposiums are some of the largest EVents ever and this will be the 30th one!
BILL NYE IS DRIVING A BOLT! – More celebrity drivers means more interest and excitement about EVs and Bill Nye the Science Guy has just purchased a Chevy Bolt. (as an aside, Harrison Ford was just spotted driving a nice Tesla Model S) The Chevy Bolt is already on sale in Canada and will be going on sale in Mexico later this year.
FORD REPORTS BETTER SALES FOR ITS FUSION PHEV – Sales have been booming despite cheaper gas prices. Ford also announced they will have autonomous driving by 2020.
TESLA’S MODEL 3 STARTS PILOT PRODUCTION FEBRUARY 20!
TESLAS ARE BEING CONVERTED FOR E-RACING – President Johnsen shared more photos and details about the coming Electric GT Racing Series. They are using modified Tesla P100DL vehicles now and have unveiled their racing version of the Model S! It is 1,100 pounds lighter and has a zero-to-sixty time of just 2.1 seconds!
Meeting adjourned at 8:53pm.