SEVA Meeting Minutes – July 2023

The July 11, 2023 membership meeting of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association convened in the social hall of Wallingford First Church of the Nazarene. At 7:08 p.m., President Jay Donnaway asked Former Scribe Kevin Boze to issue the cry.

NEW ATTENDEES: Maris and her son Bodhi want to learn about conversions.  Maris’s husband was an editor of the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?”  Mark has inherited a ’74 Ford camper which he wants to convert. Leo is interested in custom builds. Bob imagines a Chevy step van with lots of room for batteries.

EV GUEST DRIVE EVENT: Joining by telephone, Priscilla Brun from EV Guest Drive was introduced by Jay. EV Guest Drive will be a ride-and-drive event sponsored by Electric Car Insider and Seattle City Light on Sept. 23. The goal of the event is to help educate the EV-curious public. It’s a private signup facilitated by City Light. Guest Drive offers a $300 honorarium for volunteering to present a personal vehicle for six hours. Volunteers need to sign up for 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; test-drive hours are 10 to 4. Volunteers will be able to help people choose the vehicle best fitting their lifestyle. This national event travels from city to city, and Electric Car Insider started out publishing the EV buyers’ guide. The location will be at South Seattle College, and the course will be about 1¼ miles on city streets. No performance driving will be allowed. While the primary insurance is the car owner’s, the event does have a $1 million liability policy and $5 million umbrella policy; they will cover owners’ deductibles in the event of a damage claim.  They’ve had no incidents in five years, except when a non-participant once backed into a Model S. Children are welcome. The deadline for signup is the week of Aug. 12. A number of vehicles already are registered, but they still would like to get a Ford F-150 Lightning, a Kia EV6, a Rivian R1T and a Tesla Model S and X. To sign up, contact Priscilla at priscilla@evnavigator.com or call her at 619-381-5016.

EV DRAG RACING – Pat McCue discussed his work on sponsoring EV drag races at Pacific Raceways in Kent. Pat is a retired auto-shop teacher who now builds EV race cars. He helped write new drag-race rules for EVs. His Ford Mach-E won at Pacific Raceway but then lost at regionals in Idaho. He and his business partner in are trying to get more race participants. This year they’re sponsoring the first five EVs to sign up for each drag race at Pacific Raceways by covering the entry fee. With a minimum of five racers, a $500 purse will be awarded to the winners. The first-place prize will be $300, second $100, and then two $50 prizes for best package. The consistency of EVs is well suited for bracket racing. Pacific Raceway now allows owner-built conversions in some races. There are no insurance requirements. The entry fee after the first five cars is $80 per entrant.  Spectators are welcome as well. Show up by 7:30 a.m. Four more EV drag races are scheduled this summer.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

• Cars and Coffee – Vice President Grace Reamer shared an invitation from Kent Bakke and his assistant Abby to their Cars and Coffee event on Aug. 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Bowman Building in Ballard, 4451 14th Avenue NW.  The event is to promote EVs, share information and have fun. Free coffee will be served and the public is invited. Kent’s EV collection will be on display as well.
• Burien Solar Punk Festival – Grace also shared an invitation from Adam Powers at Key Tech Labs for SEVA to exhibit up to five cars at the Burien Solar Punk Festival on Aug.12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Sustainamania – SEVA also is invited to exhibit cars and share EV experiences at Sustainamania in Bothell from 10 to 2 on Aug. 12.

CHARGING – Jay attended a ribbon cutting on US 12 for a DCFC installation. He reported that 27 of the 30 invited VIPs arrived in ICE vehicles — the other three, including Jay, came in EVs — and there was much other buffoonery. Also, it was reported that Mount Rainier National Park’s EVSEs at Longmire can be used by paying a fee to unlock the Clipper Creek units.

STATE EV COORDINATING COUNCIL – Jeremy Smithson has been serving on the advisory board for the state’s EV Coordinating Council, and he reported that there’s not a great depth of knowledge among the participating agencies. At this point they are evaluating a lot of input and putting policy recommendations together. The plan is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. More information about the council’s work is available at:  EV Coordinating Council – Washington State Department of Commerce

GREENWOOD CAR SHOW – Mark Schiller was congratulated for organizing a record-setting EV exhibit for the Greenwood Car Show on June 24.  Mark said that 41 cars from SEVA participated, and six more cars were on display from Tesla, including Dave Denhart’s Roadster. The exhibit was in a new location this year, and it seemed to be a good spot between 72nd and 73rd, and Mark hopes we can get that block again next year.

Jay adjourned the meeting in the vicinity of 8:25 p.m.