SEVA Meeting Minutes – April 2023

Seattle Electric Vehicle Association

Apr 11, 2023 meeting minutes
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The April 2023 membership meeting of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association took place on April 11 at the social hall of First Church of the Nazarene in Wallingford after members shared their EVs in the parking lot. Former Scribe Kevin Boze issued the cry and President Jay Donnaway called the meeting to order at 7:18 p.m.

NEW ATTENDEES:Juan and his nephew Antonio are interested in learning more about conversions. John Koppe rode his e-bike to the meeting and just took delivery of his Tesla Model Y. Abby wants to convert a boat to electric. Mark had an early Ford Focus EV and then got a 2017 version, and he also has solar power.John is retired from Tacoma Power and has a Model Y.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: Vice President Grace Reamer reported that just two EV-related bills remain in play as the state Legislature nears the end of its annual session. Senate Bill 5542 protecting public EV charging equipment has passed both houses and is now on the Governor’s desk. And although a number of SEVA members spoke out in opposition to House Bill 1175, the bill that bails out gas stations by providing publicly funded insurance for underground petroleum tanks is just one vote away from approval in the state Senate.

CARS AND COFFEE: They go so well together, especially when championed by SEVA member Kent Bakke. His assistant, Abby, reported that the coffee entrepreneur is preparing to open his Seattle coffee museum in Ballard soon, featuring his vast collection of coffee preparation equipment. Kent also has a collection of interesting and unique EVs and serves as president of the Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation. He would like to collaborate with SEVA on fund-raising for the HEVF, and he plans to host cars and coffee events.

SPOTLIGHT ON HISTORIC EVs: Jeff Finn, board member of the Historic Electric Vehicle Foundation, presented background information about the non-profit organization and a sneak preview of the foundation’s plans to build a sweeping and expansive EV Experience near the Route 66 EV museum in Kingman, AZ. Plans are still confidential until an official announcement in early May. The museum opened in late 2013 and has amassed the world’s largest collection of historically significant electric vehicles. With a collection that far exceeds the museum’s small space, a larger EV Experience plan was conceived in 2018, but the loss of two board members along with pandemic closures delayed planning. In 2021, the City of Kingman acquired a large piece of property with the intention of using it for the EV Experience. Earlier this year, the board hired staff and created a fund-raising plan that has collected more than $500,000 so far. The plan envisions a world-class educational destination as well as a virtual component. In conjunction with the project, the all-virtual Route 66 Chapter of the Electric Vehicle Association aims to electrify all 2,300 miles of the historic Route 66, from Chicago to Los Angeles. Watch for the unveiling soon!

EVENTS: It is not too late to sign up for Drive Electric Earth Day events! SEVA is participating in three local events this year with outreach about how driving electric is good for sustainability and protecting the planet.

• Bellevue College will resume hosting its EV car show, starting at 9:40 a.m. and continuing to 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 20. Find more details and sign up here.
• Mercer Island Leap for Green Sustainability Fair has space for a couple more display vehicles, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, April 22 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center. Find more details and sign up here.
• South Park Earth Day event at the Duwamish River Community Hub in South Park needs several more vehicles to exhibit and to give rides from noon to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 22. Find more details and sign up here.
• Also on April 22, Temple B’nai Torah in Bellevue will have an educational EV event from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Find more details here.
• Lake Hills Neighborhood Association is hosting an Earth Day EV exhibit on Sunday, April 23, from 1-3 p.m. at the Lake Hills Shopping Center. Find more details here.
• In May, the Spring EV Show is back in Issaquah at the Triple XXX Root Beer on Sunday, May 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Find more details and sign up here.

Coming later this year:

• Roadmap conference, May 15-17, Portland.
• Greenwood Car Show, Saturday, June 24.
• Formula E races, June 24, Portland.
• EVS36, the international symposium, June 11-14 in Sacramento
• Green Transportation Summit and Expo, Aug. 12-14, Tacoma
• National Drive Electric Week will be the third week of September.

FEATURED VEHICLES:

• Scott has been driving his work’s new Chevrolet Bolt EUV, and he said it drives great, but when using cruise control, the car uses brakes to slow down instead of regenerative braking.
• Jeff’s new Nissan Ariya has minimal features in the entry level vehicle, but it is quieter and handles better than the Leaf. It uses the CCS DC fast charge connector and charges at 60kW.
• Jay recently did an East Coast road trip and rented a new Genesis AWD EV. It drove very well, but the DC fast charging was slower than expected with its 84kW battery. Jay also showed pictures of the pusher trailer he is building, which is almost ready for painting.
• Mark Yorkmark gave an update on his 12-year-old Corvolt project, which came to life with one motor spinning up for the first time.

The meeting adjourned at about 8:40 p.m.

Minutes drafted and posted by Vice President Grace Reamer.

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Zoom Meeting Recording(s):
: Did Not Stream Meeting