SEVA Meeting Minutes – September 2024
Seattle Electric Vehicle Association
September 10, 2024 meeting minutes
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The September 10, 2024 membership meeting of the Seattle Electric Vehicle Association took place at the Tesla Studio, 2627 NE 46th St, in University Village, Seattle.
Prior to the meeting, numerous members met on the upper level of the garage to show and discuss electric vehicles.
At 7:07 pm, President Jay Donnaway called the meeting to order.
Folks from Tesla, who is now providing our meeting space, introduced themselves. Manager Mike has been with Tesla since October 2016 and has been interested in sustainability, cars, electronics for many years. Henry, tonight’s presenter, has been with Tesla since 2018. He did his thesis on impending electrification in 2007 and predicted that batteries and charging would present problems. Raphael has been with Tesla 9 years.
Henry’s presentation was about greenhouse gasses in transportation. EVs are good, public transportation (electric) and bicycles are better. For folks who need a personal vehicle, EVs are about 1/3 CO2 per mile vs ICE (internal combustion engines) but that is heavily dependent on the vehicle and the power used to charge it. He took us to FuelEconomy.gov and we looked at a grams of CO2 per mile. Using one member’s vehicle as an example, for a 2014 Toyota Rav4, we saw 400 gm/mi for ICE, 190 gm/mi for typical nationwide electricity supply, (with none out the EV tail pipe, of course) and less for hydro power. Other example vehicles showed similar benefits. Larger EVs are less convincing. We are fortunate here in the PNW that we have a lot of hydro power. Obviously, “How clean is the power grid?” effects “how green” an electric car will be. Alternative fuels are making progress but existing players are sowing FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) to slow the transition. Closed loop power systems – Solar charging with a residential battery is very clean, avoids the grid and costs are coming down. Redwood Materials is recycling and recovering 90%+ of raw materials. Some estimate that 100 batteries recycle enough raw materials to make 98. Plastic separator materials and other non-metallic items don’t recycle as efficiently. Individual efforts are good but we need to act broadly. Henry recommends; VOTE NO on I-2117. Vehicle to Grid (V2G) is growing. Vehicle to Home is here now. A 13.5 kWh Tesla Power Wall will power the typical home for a day and can be recharged with Solar. The current Ford truck with a 100 kWh battery can power a home for several days with a bi-directional wall connector. In the California market V2G is growing and they have lots of solar and Power Walls. Power Wall sales are also growing rapidly in Texas, increasing significantly after last year’s power failures.
Stephen Johnson reported on several topics beginning with battery recycling. He encouraged everyone to recycle their lithium batteries NOW at 1Green Planet in Renton. No one else in the area accepts medium or large size lithium batteries for free, if they accept them at all. 1greenplanet.com
Federal regulations for battery recycling need to be updated. A zero volt battery is considered to be just as hazardous as a fully charged battery.
The Ford Super Cobra Jet 1800, that set an electric car drag racing record in March (7.75 sec in the 1/4 mile, 181 mph) will be back on the track again at the end of September. The race will be in Bowling Green, Kentucky and is sanctioned by a Mustang racing group. Expect a report next month.
Ryan showed a time lapse video of his cross country trip.
Several members reported on upcoming events. SEVA Calendar of Events
Jay shared that there is a push in Olympia (by some car companies) to only allow “licensed technicians” to handle automotive size batteries.
Ryan & Stephen reported on Bracket Racing. Any electric car can race so long as it is stock and insured. Tires and rims can be non-stock. Bracket racing is about consistency, especially reaction time. There are cash prizes locally, regional championships pay $3,000 and the national championships in Las Vegas pay $15,000. We have sponsors that pay entry fees. Recent racers included a Mach E, Model Y Performance, Fister Ocean and Cyber Beast. Best time for the Cyber Beast (Ryan) was 10:94 in the 1/4 mile. He even an 11:02 with a tire on the roof rack.
As the weather changes, we will be moving the 6:30 pm car show from the roof to a lower deck of the parking garage on rainy nights.
The meeting adjourned at 8:21.
By Eric Eskilson, SEVA Secretary
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Zoom/YouTube Meeting Recording(s):
: YouTube: SeattleEVA.org 20240910 Meeting