SEVA Meeting Minutes – July 2025
Seattle Electric Vehicle Association
July 8, 2025 meeting minutes
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Here are the SEVA meeting minutes for July 2025, thanks to Secretary Eric for providing them. It was also great to see Paul’s new pre-owned Chevy Bolt in my favorite Bolt color (I think it’s called Oasis Blue) congrats to him on getting that! -Stephen J.
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The July 8, 2025 meeting of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association took place at the North Parking Garage, Floor D, of University Village, Seattle WA.
Prior to the meeting, members met to show and discuss electric vehicles.
At 7:00 pm, president Stephen Johnsen called the meeting to order. There were about 24 people in attendance.
New or returning attendees included; Angela who recently purchased a VW ID4 and Chris from Arizona where they have special cloud EV Plates that allow use of the Car Pool lane.
The $7,500 new vehicle EV Tax Credits are going away September 30 of this year. Be sure to take delivery by that date to get the credit because ordering now and taking delivery later doesn’t qualify for the credit. For used vehicles the credit is $4,000 if buying from a dealer. If you are buying from an individual you can make the deal through Key Savvy to get the credit. Just do it before September 30!
President Johnsen reported on the General Motors “EVs For Everyone” event at Seattle Center. They had every available GM electric model there from all of the GM brands and also great food! The new Cadillac has multiple screens across the dash and auto open (and close) doors (similar to those on a Model X). There is now an Escalade EV which is the size of a Suburban with a huge battery, 460 mile range and a large frunk! It charges at 100 miles in 10 minutes at 800 volts. The 490 mile per charge Silverado seems to be depreciating quickly, Stephen saw a used one with 800 miles for $50,000 and another at a dealership in Bremerton for just $42k with 11k miles on it! The Chevy Equinox EV is the best available price as far as dollar-per-rated-mile-of-range. Starting price is $34,995 before the $7,500 credit with a range of 319 miles! If you’re a Costco buisiness or executive member you can get another $1000 to $1,200 off. Additionally Chevy is offering $2,000 cash off for the rest of July OR 0% financing for 5 years! So in the end a brand new base “LT” model Equinox EV can be had for about $25,000! Paul Kahle reported he regularly sees 330 miles from his Equinox EV. The Hummer EV was on display as well and the large frunk was filled with the removable Hummer EV roof panels.
July 12 is Ford’s Cars & Coffee EVent with free parking and admission to Electrify Expo!
Greenwood Car Show was a success, thanks to Charlie for coordinating! There were 18 SEVA and two independent EV’s in our show area. Some of the cars included a Polestar, Leaf, a bolt, an Equinox EV, a gorgeous Porsche conversion, an Original Ranger EV, two EV Works Conversions (Jaguar and VW Bus) and Wayland’s super clean EV2 Honda Insight. Scott Peterson won Best in Class with his yellow Lotus EV conversion! Big thanks to Ryan “IRON MAN” Fulcher for going to Portland to get the White Zombie with his Cybertruck and making the long ~800mile trip in a day! Also Honda Insight expert Micah rode down with Ryan and back up with John Wayland as John drove the sleek, super efficient EV1 motor Insight along at freeway speeds seeing efficiency numbers as low as 158 Wh/mile! Tim Economu’s Dodge Promaster RV by Maxwell Conversions was on display and is for sale. Stephen’s 1954 GMC truck conversion was there sporting the SEVA banner on the flatbed and charging off a Ford lightning during the show.
Chris Barker presented Ryvid Electric Motorcycles (pronounced “Rih-vid”). They started three years ago with former aerospace engineers in southern California. Their modular design allows customization and is intended to bring affordable mobility to the masses. They have an international supply chain and assemble in SoCal, Turkey and India. Riding is simple with no gear shifting and an urban commuter range of 75 miles at about two cents per mile. The battery is removable and can be taken in doors for charging, security and to protect the battery from extreme outdoor temperatures! The batteries are lightweight and can be easily swapped out and carried around. They have several models that can be customized before or after purchase. They are quiet and getting a lot of interest from police and military. They are working on several new versions including Touring, Deliveries (with a side car), rentals and for industrial service workers.
Former president Jay discussed his recent visit to Hong Kong and Thailand. In Hong Kong EV’s are replacing propane Toyotas. The BYD E6 hatchback has a big trunk and is a quality vehicle. In Bangkok, he saw only one electric motorbike. Parking garage charging was common with the EU style “bring your own cord” chargers. He didn’t see any electric busses, though they did have solar panels on top to assist with accessory loads.
Stephen Johnsen discussed last months trip to Yakima to see their 1907 Interurban Street Car. This was followed by Ken Johnsen (Stephen’s father) recounting his 52 year efforts defending and protecting the historic YVT Co, Yakima Valley Trolley Company. This trolley line is the last intact historically accurate interurban trolley in the country, going between Yakima and Selah! They have a fine collection including multiple working 1910 through 1930 vintage street cars! The Line Car is a 115 year old working electric locomotive that still has the original motors (the brushes have been replaced) and has run every year since 1910 (except for 1 year during the Covid pandemic!) The group of volunteers supports the power house with the original motor-generators and a 1910 Car Barn with original belt driven machine tools. It is likely that they will become a National Historic Landmark later this year or early next.
Unfortunately, the Yakima Valley Trolleys are endangered right now and your support would be appreciated. An upcoming repaving of Sixth Avenue is required and a few options are being considered. The less expensive option, favored by some on the city commission, would be to simply pave over the tracks, eliminating the interurban connection! The alternative is to do some track repair (the last repair project was done in the 1950s so it has lasted a long time!) and pave around the tracks. The next public meeting is August 4.
Please visit www.savethetrolleys.com to sign the petition or consider ZOOM calling or driving over to testify in-person in favor of keeping the trolleys on 6th Ave at the Yakima Council meeting on August 4, 2025.
President Stephen announced that next month’s SEVA meeting will be a summer potluck, August 12, at the Bakke Coffee Museum, 4451 14th Ave NW, Seattle. It will be a pot luck so plan ahead to bring some food and look for additional information via email.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 pm.
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Zoom/YouTube Meeting Recording(s):
: YouTube: SeattleEVA.org 20250708 Meeting