SEVA Meeting Minutes – January 2021

Seattle Electric Vehicle Association
Minutes of the Jan. 12, 2021 meeting

The meeting was by Zoom, again arranged by Ed Mills.

Before the meeting was called to order, new attendees Warren Burrows and Deborah Stewart introduced themselves. They are planning a cross-country trip and want to do it gas-free instead of using their Prius. They also asked for and received advice about arranging charging in their condo.

President Jay Donnaway called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Kevin Boze gave the cry.

SPECIAL GUEST – John Wayland of Portland gave a presentation about his “EV2” – it’s a Honda Insight powered by an EV1 motor. EV2 is road-ready after 10 years of work, although it’s still on blocks right now as John works on finishing touches. Honda had copied much of the design of the EV1 when they came out with the Insight hybrid. John’s goal is to keep the memory of the EV1 going, and show what the Insight might have been had it been all-electric. There hasn’t been anything easy with this car; John told an elaborate story about how he obtained the wheels’ center caps. It should have a range of 450 miles in ideal conditions. Specs: 71.6 kWh battery pack, 318.2 volts, series-parallel configuration is 3P-86S, 10-second rating is 3600 amps, 1800 continuous, maximum current draw 450 amps. The cells won’t even warm up. Cell temperature is equalized by an active air-circulation system.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE – Vice President Grace Reamer gave an update about the 2021 legislative session, which began Jan. 11.

Most sessions and hearings will be remote, and testimony may be given by remote login instead of going to Olympia.

• SB5085 creates an electric-motorcycle registration fee, effectively reducing the EV fee for vehicles that are operated with a motorcycle license from $150 to $30. The sponsor is Senator Rolfes.
• SB5000 creates a separate sales-tax exemption for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. It has a hearing at 8 a.m. on Jan. 13. Qualified new vehicles will be exempt from 50% of the tax, and used vehicles from all of the tax if the vehicle’s value doesn’t exceed $16,000. The exemption is for the first 650 vehicles using it within eight years from when the bill comes into effect, which is July 2022.
• HB1075 requires ride-hailing services to reduce emissions. The sponsors are Berry and Fitzgibbon. It will have a hearing at 10 a.m. on Jan. 15. Lyft, Uber and other ride-hailing services will be required to report their greenhouse emissions and develop a reduction plan.
• SB6586 is last year’s VMT bill. The primary sponsor is Senator Saldaña. It hasn’t been reintroduced yet (and will get a new bill number if it is). WSDOT would set the mileage fee. The $150 EV fee would be abolished.
• SB1091 is Representative Fitzgibbons’ low-carbon fuel-standard bill. It will have a hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 14. DOE will be directed to establish a “clean fuels program” which is to obtain a 10% reduction by 2028 of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 2017, and 20% by 2035. Bankable, tradeable credits are to be established.
• SB5126 is the Washington Climate Commitment Act, sponsored by Senators Carlysle and Saldaña, creating a cap-and-trade program and a task force for a statewide, coordinated climate-action program. Its hearing will be 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 19.
• HB2515 is last year’s Clean Cars 2030, sponsored by Representative Macri. That’s the Coltura bill. It has not yet been reintroduced (and, like the VMT bill, it will get a new number if it does get reintroduced). Some changes are being finalized. Jay said that last year’s version made a lot of useful improvements and ended up not as draconian as it sounds. Grace said that it might take several legislative sessions to get this passed, so let’s hope it’s introduced every year until it does.

Grace said that as of November 2020, there are 63,800 electric vehicles registered in Washington. This exceeds the governor’s goal of 50,000 by the end of the year.

TESLA OWNERS CLUB – Teresa Ramsdell reported the club’s virtual annual meeting is coming up, and their virtual wine tasting will be toward the end of the month. Teresa said that she’s meeting with an official from Bellevue to discuss the city’s autonomous-driving project. On Friday she’s meeting someone who wants to set up a Tesla Supercharger in a discontinued gas station in the Central District, running on solar power. Jay mentioned Rob Maurer’s Tesla Daily Podcast. Grace said that the new 7-seat version of Model Y is now available. The just-introduced lower-priced Model Y, rear-wheel drive with one motor and 240 miles of range, costs around $42,000.

BOARD ELECTION – Jay announced the call for nominations for vice president and treasurer. The election for these offices will be at the February meeting. Charlie Tsai agreed to be nominated for treasurer. The nomination was seconded by Deb Seymour. Grace said that remote voting will be used to conduct the February election by Zoom. Secretary Billy Kreuter asked if Grace was eligible to run for re-election for vice-president. Grace said that she was, because SEVA’s bylaws allow five consecutive terms. Billy asked Grace to accept nomination for re-election. Grace agreed. Deb seconded the nomination.

PROJECT UPDATES

Jabran Soubeih gave an update about his Ranger revival project. The pack went back in on Dec. 23. He’s driven it to Marysville for the VIN inspection, and the title is on the way. Jabran has posted a new Youtube video on his Youtube channel.

Jay discussed EV West’s work on Kent Bakke’s vehicles. They’re getting “Ox” batteries from Electric GT, very well made. Kent described the vehicles as a 1966 Volvo converted by Dave Cloud about eight years ago, and a Honda, 1976 or so. Jay displayed these cars live from the EV West shop.

Andrea Toussignant gave an update about the online survey, which has received 33 responses so far. It will stay open until the end of January, and all SEVA members are encouraged to respond, with results to be presented at the February annual meeting. The survey is at https://s.surveyplanet.com/eCKKK6d19.

Mark Yormark talked about his project.

Jay suggested that the website could include a curated list of video links.

Grace suggested that SEVA members who have purchased newly introduced models could offer a presentation about their new vehicle.

Charlie said that at the February meeting, he could give a presentation and virtual walk-around of his BMW project.

CHARGING UPDATES – Jay talked about battery-buffered DCFC’s, including one in Bellingham. He’ll try to schedule presentations. The last round of state Commerce Department grants had some funding for this. There was a $1.5 million grant from the Clean Energy Fund. Seattle City Light got a grant of $600,000 to install battery-integrated fast chargers in Belltown, primarily serving rideshare drivers.

Jay adjourned the meeting at 8:15 PM. There was no post-meeting dicussion.

Minutes drafted by Billy Kreuter, secretary, and edited by Grace Reamer, vice president.

 

 

Zoom Meeting Recording(s):