SEVA Meeting Minutes – June 2021
Seattle Electric Vehicle Association
Meeting minutes for June 8, 2021
The June 8, 2021 monthly meeting was hybrid – Zoom and in-person outside in the parking lot at First Church of the Nazarene in Wallingford, for pandemic safety reasons. About a dozen members with cars attended in person. President Jay Donnaway, in the church parking lot, began the meeting at about 7 p.m., using his phone to stream the meeting to the Zoom attendees. New attendees, one of whom is Eric, were introduced.
DEWA REPORT: Vice President Grace Reamer, also on the board of Drive Electric Washington, reported the board has started meeting again. Its board is looking at setting a message for where Washington’s EV policy should go. For example, the board may look at policies on hydrogen technology and the nature of a road usage charge.
FEATURED GUEST from PUGET SOUND ENERGY: Jonathan Harris from PSE’s New Product Development Team spoke through Zoom about the conversion of fleet and commercial vehicles. PSE has just submitted to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission its Transportation Electrification Plan, which is a five-year outline for Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) buildout. There’s starting to be a lot of adoption by trucks. PSE is getting a lot of EVSEs installed, in locations such as Lacey, Renton and Kirkland. Jonathan is leaving PSE after this month to join Rivian and work on their EVSE buildout.
CONVERSION REPORT – Former SEVA president Stephen Johnsen reported through Zoom from his shop. Steve gave a tour by phone camera of the trucks he’s working on. He’s been working with mechanical engineering and electrical engineering students at the University of Washington on a refrigerated box truck conversion using Tesla battery packs and a Chevy Volt DC-DC converter. Jay mentioned several EVs available for projects; most need new battery packs.
CLEAN CARS 2030 – Grace reported that the Clean Cars 2030 legislation was vetoed by Governor Inslee because of an amendment linking implementation to the Road Usage Charge. Non-profit advocacy organization Coltura is now trying to get the governor to implement the policy by executive order. They want the bill’s sponsors to sign on to a letter urging the Governor to do this, and SEVA was asked to sign a letter of support as well. Grace will send the letter by e-mail to members for their comment. Public and outreach events are planned, including a rally with electric cars in late July.
EVENTS – Grace said that in-person events may be starting back up soon. Greenwood is doing a cruise on June 26. SEVA Secretary Billy Kreuter is registered for the cruise as an individual and invites others to join in. Participants gather at Aurora Square, the old Sears parking lot in Shoreline, at noon, and leave on the cruise at 2 p.m. Phil Skoog is getting information about a Kirkland car show in August.
NEXT MEETING – SEVA will meet next month on July 13. Jay said that he prefers an entirely in-person meeting in July at the church in Wallingford. The meeting will be outside if weather permits, but bring your mask for an indoor meeting if necessary.
Jay conducted the raffle drawing before adjourning the in-person meeting at 8:07 p.m. The Zoom meeting ended at 8:09 p.m.
Minutes drafted by Billy Kreuter, Secretary, and edited by Grace Reamer, Vice President.
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Zoom Meeting Recording(s):