SEVA Meeting Minutes – December 2020

The meeting was by Zoom, again arranged by Ed Mills. President Jay Donnaway called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.

CARS AND NO COFFEE – Jay reported about the event “Cars and No Coffee” at The Shop on Nov.21, which had six EVs and eight people in attendance. Many connections were made, including with an entrepreneur working on autonomous delivery vehicles, and a hobbyist who bought a dead conversion that he now is powering with a Bolt pack and preparing to install a salvaged Prius inverter.

ANNUAL MEETING – The SEVA annual meeting and board elections will occur on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. Jay said that nominations for the offices of Vice President and Treasurer will be sought at the January meeting.

UPDATES –

* Jay reported that the annual board election for the Electric Automobile Association is underway. EAA’s former president has endorsed three candidates for EAA board.

* Jay added that the Autonomous Electric and Shared Mobility Coalition will meet on Dec. 9.

* Jay talked about the Bolt recall notice for battery fires. Jay said that on Black Friday, Bolts had a bigger markdown of any used EV.

* Jay mentioned Island E-Car on Orcas Island. It’s another independent used-EV dealer.

* Aptera is “back from the dead” and claims to have a thousand-mile battery. The solar cells can provide 40 miles.

SPECIAL GUEST PRESENTATION – Jay introduced the keynote speaker, Jabran Soubeih.

Jabran had spotted a factory-original Ranger EV in a salvage yard. Only 1,200 were ever produced, and 800 were crushed. The Ranger has a dedicated following, including Roger Swearingen’s yellow one and Tim Ritchey’s white one, which was converted to a double-Leaf pack in Sumner. Jabran has posted on Youtube a fifteen-episode series documenting his work on the Ranger.

His Youtube channel is “furriestdog.” Jabran paid $500 on Oct. 10 for the truck. The MSRP had been $52,700 when Ford made the Ranger, which was 1998-2002. The earliest had 39 lead-acid batteries; later it was 25 NiMH. Powered by a Siemens 90 HP, 3-phase AC induction motor with net gear ratio about 12½:1. Originally these were sold to meet CARB’s low-emissions mandate in California. Range, according to Southern California Edison, was 69-90 miles.

The charge connector standard was “Avcon,” a paddle. The NiMH batteries weighed about 950 pounds.  Jabran’s truck had been refitted with Li-titinate batteries and a modern J1772. Jabran and his family are now installing LiFePo4 batteries weighing 795 pounds and offering a 100-mile range. The stock charger was previously replaced with a 5-kW dual-voltage ElCon which has a CAN bus interface.

Jabran made contact with Ranger Electric Trucks LLC, and he and they figured out why the truck wouldn’t charge using the batteries that came with truck from the salvage yard. Troubleshooting proceeded with several Canbus-reading tools, including the “Torque” app for Android, a very customizable, useful app.

Determining that the batteries coming with the truck couldn’t be kept working usefully, Jabran just went to Eugene and picked up 106 new cells. He’s purchased a Chargepoint level 2 EVSE with Snohomish PUD’s $500 rebate, knocking the price down to $150. Discussion ensued concerning optimal cell voltage and charge controlling.

SURVEY – Jay called on Andrea Toussignant to present the SEVA activities and programs survey she developed. It’s ready for member use, and she’ll post a link. Members are asked to complete it the survey online before the February meeting, in time for the board election then, so results can be announced at that meeting. To access the survey, go to https://s.surveyplanet.com/eCKKK6d19.

EV POLICY – Vice President Grace Reamer reviewed the great presentation in October from Matthew Metz of Coltura about legislation to prohibit sales of ICE cars starting 2030. California’s governor has issued an executive order declaring a 2035 ban. SEVA members can testify during Washington’s upcoming legislative hearings; testimony will be submitted on-line. Grace also reported that the Transportation Electrification Coalition has invited SEVA to participate with what they’re doing.

The Coalition has put together a white paper discussing the greenhouse impact of ride-sharing. Ride-hailing ICE trips were found to create 47% more emissions than comparable solo-driver ICE trips, due to the dead-heading and extra driving. Electrification will make a big difference in that sector. The Coalition has put together a policy statement concerning equity in impacts of and opportunities for electrification; Grace will post it for SEVA to consider endorsing. Jeff Finn, Grace and Ed Mills recounted Rivian’s work on the dealership bill to allow direct sales of EVs in Washington, which will be reintroduced in the 2021 legislative session, along with the Vehicle Miles Traveled bill. 

FROM THE MEMBERSHIP –

* Grace displayed a photo of a socially distanced get-together with her two sisters. Totally electric family: three cars, three sisters.

2021 MEETINGS – Grace said that Ed has kindly agreed to keep hosting meetings in 2021.

Jay adjourned the meeting at 8:29 p.m.