SEVA Meeting Minutes – July 2015
SEVA Meeting Minutes: July 14 2015, –Called to order. Officers introduced. 44 persons in attendance.
EV OF THE MONTH: Dave Barden talked about O’ Sparky, his old Honda that was chopped into a pickup and converted to electric as a shop project in the Tri-Cities. Dave found it in 1998 on the Web, took a trip to the Tri in a U-Haul, brought it back and re-jiggered its original range (about 10 miles) with a lithium battery overhaul and other refinements to its present range of 60 miles.
“I get more smiles to the mile than any other car I’ve ever driven!” Dave concluded.
NEW PEOPLE!! SEVA is excited to see five new people who are at their very first meeting! Hello and Welcome!
SEVA NAME BADGES – Are available now for $9.50 cash each. Get yours today by emailing Jeff Finn who will be obtaining the badges.jeff@voltrunner.com
OUR MONTHLY RAFFLE – The July Raffle was collected as a benefit for Sandy, who has so graciously been in charge of the raffle for so long and needs the Membership’s help.
IT”S CAR-SHOW SEASON!!
SOLARFEST – Saturday, July 25th. A big, big event. And it’s free. Sign up to show your EV!
NORTHSOUND EVA BARBEQUE IN BELLINGHAM!! — Saturday, August 1st. Check out the Haveman’s Annual Solar Party on Facebook. Or email Tyrel for more information on the fun BBQ event which attracts EVers from all over including Canada! Tyrel’s email is:president@northsoundeva.org
SALMON FEST – Second Weekend in August at Lake City. Check the Events page!
NATIONAL DRIVE ELECTRIC WEEK – At XXX Root Beer in Issaquah Sunday, September 20th. If you’ve never been to an EV show, this is the one to go to.
SILENT THUNDER AT PACIFIC RACEWAYS – Also on September 20th. And then it’s off to XXX Root Beer for some after-race burgers!
SOUTH SEATTLE COLLEGE EV CONVERSION CLASS – An eight-day class for a very intensive project (a 1954 Chevy food delivery truck conversion), September 12–19. Interested? Send an email to Luisa Motten, lmotten@southseattle.edu, or call 260-934-6782.
RE-FUEL RE-CAP – Laguna Seca was the scene for RE-FUEL on June 27th, and it was rated a major success by the participants. Tesla brought out their special mobile SuperCharger stations and there were many Model S cars, Tesla Roadsters, Fiat 500s, LEAFs and conversions racing around the track!
AND SPEAKING OF MAJOR SUCCESSES – The Greenwood Car Show resulted in (yet again) SEVA drawing top honors for the biggest car club. Thousands of people in attendance.
HISTORY MADE ON PIKE’S PEAK – As predicted, EVs ran roughshod over the ICE entries for the Pike’s Peak Run. Between their superior torque and their not needing the free oxygen a gas car requires, EVs dominated the event, and are coming up fast on the all-time record. The future is here and it plugs in!
J.J. REPORTS ON THE 2015 LEGISLATIVE SESSION — The Clean Fuel Vehicle sales tax exemption has been extended for another for years, but only for cars that are less than $35K, it include plug-in hybrids with 30 miles of range or more. Current leases are grandfathered in, regardless of price.
The annual EV fee goes from $100, to $150 on July 1, 2016. It is roughly in-line with new gas tax.
$1M from new EV fee appropriated to WSDOT for more highway quick-charge stations, although that is significantly less than the $6M proposed by Gov. Inslee.
Utility provided EV charging allows investor-owned utilities to install EV charging gehind the customer meter and earn a rate of return, capped at 0.25% rate impact.
Commercial clean fuel vehicle tax breaks – Allowed for freight vehicles bought by businesses.
We DIDN’T get … ZEV mandate, motorcycles tax exemption, HOV access or reduced tolls, and no solar bill.
OTHER STATE ADMINISTRATIVE WORK – Building Code Council proposal to require EV charging stations for residential and some commercial buildings. Expect public hearings in fall and winter.
Commerce Department is finalizing local fleet mandate for “practical” use of EVs and biofuels.
AND A NOTE OF THANKS – To Mr. McCoy, in recognition of his hard work in following the ins and outs of what turned out to be a record-long session for Washington State. SEVA appreciates JJ’s work keeping us all abreast of EV related happenings down in Olympia!
EVs AND THE GRID SUMMIT (LOS ANGELES) – Mr. McCoy also attended this summit, and reported to the membership that there was a lot of discussion about vehicle-to-grid integration. While there are many technological possibilities, they also present significant logistical and cost issues. There was also a simulation done by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District about the long-range effects of upgrading to meet increase in EV charging demand. California is proposing $1B in EV infrastructure investment.