SEVA Meeting Minutes – April 2024

Seattle Electric Vehicle Association

Apr 9, 2024 meeting minutes
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The April 9, 2024 membership meeting of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association took place at the Rivian Showroom meeting space, 4601 26th Ave NE, in University Village, Seattle.

Prior to the meeting, numerous members met on the upper level of the garage across the street to show and discuss electric vehicles.

At 7:10 pm, President Jay Donnaway called the meeting to order.

Mt Vernon now has 74 EVSE charging stations, four of which are fast chargers.

First time visitors; Brian who has a Rivian and is an EV advocate. Jim who got the first Cybertruck in Seattle. Both vehicles were on display on the upper level of the garage, prior to the meeting. The Cybertruck has a green wrap.

Grace presented news about Coltura and their work to convert Gasoline Super Users.
https://Coltura.org/gasoline-superusers-3-report/
She has been on their board for a couple of years and works with Matthew Metz and Janelle London. Coltura has been working to address Super Users (defined as the top 10% of gasoline users) because converting these users will address both climate change goals and help the users budgets.
Coltura’s recent push has been (and they will be asking for help) to get EV owners to talk to users, including folks to get on the phone with a super user to discuss costs, charging and other issues. We (SEVA members) have the necessary experience, this is what we do. We can refer people to national groups. We have experience with long trips, understand the hassles and know how to find chargers. We can explain.
If you would like to participate – Stay Tuned, more details are coming.

Jay observed that Oregon Electric Vehicle Association (OEVA) has stepped up their game with email Q&A, even phone call support for folks with questions about EVs.

Rollie, our Events Chair, encourages everyone to sign up and attend the many events shown on the calendar. Events
Car shows are fun! Simply sit/stand by a vehicle and talk. Each year there are fewer skeptics and more who are interested in EVs and thinking about buying. Folks are working on posters, emails and handouts.

Rob, VP, presented some nuggets of data from the Member Survey, summarizing the first 60 surveys completed. Later, he will present results from an anticipated 1000 surveys with data including ownership, charging costs and charging types.

Jay updated the membership on Lithium Battery Recycling efforts for those among us with batteries larger than cell phones or a flashlight. Redwood Materials is willing to accept but details are still being worked out, we won’t be ready on Earth Day.

Stephen Johnsen shared photos and technical details regarding the work that Ford and MLe Race Cars have been doing with the Super Cobrajet 1800. This is an actual steel body Mustang car, modified for drag racing. They are using Cascadia Motion and pushing the limits. The goal was to produce 1,800 hp and get into the 7’s in the 1/4 mile. The battery pack was built from scratch. While an electric motor is energy dense, the battery “fuel” is not. One of their challenges was the safety requirements. Due to the weight, they needed to design their vehicle to meet the “Diesel truck Roll Cage Spec.” Even with this, NHRA’s safety requirements would not allow them to race again if their time was under 8 seconds. This vehicle has four motors, is rear wheel drive, has a clutch and 5 gears. The gear shift is pneumatic and is in fact faster shifting gears than not. There is a radiator to cool the inverters, even though the race is only 8 seconds. Power is about 2,000 amps at 800 volts. It takes roughly 2 kwh to get the car down the track. The car is charged from a 100 kw charging generator in 20-40 minutes using two 11 kw chargers. For safety there is a Lightning F150 “Fire Truck” with several special connectors on the battery to flood the battery pack in case of a thermal runaway. On race day, the car ran 7.759 seconds for the 1/4 mile and 180 mph.
Mustang Cobra Jet 1800 Sets Record https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHfw7Nnul0Y

This led to a general discussion regarding the features and benefits of various electric trucks.

Members discussed personal projects and other items. Jay recently drove an electric Zero Turn mower from Stihl. It has 5 hub style motors, one for each wheel and three on the blades. It has a receiver hitch, LiFePh chemisty, disconnects at the motors (for towing/trailering), goes up to 18 mph and reportedly will do 8 hours of commercial mowing on a single charge. Chuck reported on a battery electric Snowmobile from Taiga, in Montreal, with performance similar to a 900 cc gas. It uses a J1772 charger.

The meeting adjourned at 8:23 and many members adjourned to the roof of the south parking garage for further discussions.

By Eric Eskilson, SEVA Secretary

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Zoom Meeting Recording(s):
: Live Meeting Recording
:* YouTube: SeattleEVA.org 20240409 Meeting