Hi Bruce, I will piggy-back on your excellent post to advertise my own "near Earth-day" event.
If you are in the Boise, Idaho area, Hewlett-Packard will be hosting its Earth Day, Alternative Vehicle display, and Bring Your Inventor to Work(BYIW) Day on Thursday, April 25. BYIW is HP's version of Bring Your Daughters to Work day and is open to all children of HP employees. Interested people, not just those related to HP employees, are welcome to attend the Earth Day and Alternative Vehicle display. Just let me know so I can get information to you on how to attend. You will have to check in with HP security and show photo ID to enter the site. We will then have to arrange an escort while you are on the site. We have a Leaf and a Volt, several conversion EVs, some biodiesel vehicles, compressed natural gas (CNG) and several pedal-power or pedal and electric combination bikes (both home-built and production). We also have production electric motorcycles (Vectrix and Zero) on display. At the display, we also expect to have Greenspeed. This is an engineering project by students of Boise State University (the local university & home of the blue turf) that currently holds the world record for the fastest vehicle running biodiesel. Over 200 MPH in a modified S10 pickup running vegetable oil on the Salt Flats! It should be a great time. Let me know if you would like more details, or you're interested in attending. Mike > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On > Behalf Of brucedp5 > Sent: Friday, April 19, 2013 10:13 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [EVDL] Happy Earth day, plugin drivers celebrate @EVents > > > Here it is Friday, and the evdl.org has been fairly quiet, perhaps some > members are afk because they are preparing for or at an Earth Day EVent. > > Some noob plugin drivers may ask, so what is the fascination or Big-Deal > about Eday anyway!?! > It is more than a major calendar date that plugin drivers should attend their > local Eday EVent to give support and help get the public informed about > plugins, but a recognition of all the many, many people that have-cared, care, > and will-care that parent Earth should not succumb to corporate greed, and > we continue to work diligently to undo all the damage that still persists. > > Some ol' timers may remember those hippy-dippy days when it was a fast > growing revolution to create, support, and or attend an Earth Day. Note: > these were the days long before social-media, Internet, ... it was just word of > mouth, and later paper media and TV. > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Day > Earth Day: The History of A Movement > > http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement > 1970's videos of the phenomenon > > Today, whether you want to think it is because of the growth of interest and > support, or that when Eday is celebrated, the day varies to fit today's > lifestyles, as there are Earth Day EVents celebrated from the Friday to the > Monday surrounding April 22th (the original date). And yes, there are even > Earth Day Eve celebrations > http://www.stlouisearthday.org/events/festival/earth-day-eve/ > (hopefully not because the weather has changed to so whacky that is too hot > during the day, so that it has to be held during the evening). > > So, what plugin drivers should attend? I mean there has to be so, so many > Production plugins already around for the public to know, right? > Not true. You chat with anyone, and they'll repeat back what the media has > told them to think: that plugins are too expensive, no-good, will end life as > we know it, etc. It really takes unpaid drivers who actually use plugins in their > daily lives to prove to the public plugins are a viable transportation option. > > There needs to be more than just Production vehicles at Eday EVents > http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AoRiXxyPYlg2WHKwXll > l3MKbvZx4?p=Earth+day+electric+cars > It takes a combination of ice2ev conversions, interesting-homebrews, past > and current Production plugins, and any other alt-fuel vehicle that attend > these EVents, and gives the public the chance to see with their own eyes > that they have a choice, that they are empowered to not 'have-to' drive the > one and only type of petrol gulping ice that profit-making Automakers say we > must drive. > > While to some, that may sound like I am preaching to the choir, it is a > reminder to each and every plugin driver to make-time to attend, participate, > give-back to at least one EVent out of the year (you would not have your > plugin vehicle if it were not for all those making that effort that came before > you). > > ... > So what Events have I attended and given back at? The list is long, and over > several years, so I will not bore you by recanting them all. I will mention one. > Not the best one, that had the most public impact, but perhaps an > interesting challenge, that I succeeded at. > > The Bing search engine TV ads tout how great they are, but they are lousy > with unrelated search results I have to weed-out. This piece > http://www.mercurynews.com/carolyn-livengood/ci_23058872/carolyn- > livengood-pacific-coast-dream-machines-show-planned > popped up (though no plugins were mentioned), but it reminded me of the > PCDM EVent I did back in 2000. > > This annual EVent is in Half Moon Bay, CA and brings out many of the SF > Pacific coast residents that are virtually an untapped plugin territory. > Even today, there is a severe lack of EVSE on this part of California's Pacific > coast > http://recargo.com/search?search=Half+Moon+Bay%2C+ca&commit=Search > &filters[]=1772&filters[]=cha > > For today's Production EV driver image your 100 mile range EV with only a > 40+ mile range, that handled like you were carrying to big guys with you > 40+ in > the back seat (PbSO4 pack is heavy), and there almost no public charging to > be found anywhere (nada, zip, nothing ... only a tow truck will save you if you > did not do your charging homework). > > The challenging part of my driving my 5000lb 132V Chevy S-10 Blazer > conversion EV to this EVent is the 2000' Santa Cruz mountains that separate > the coast from Silicon Valley. While the nedra.com athletes could command > some serious power, my blazer was more of a lead-sled. I was able to obtain > my range by maintaining my highway speed (no sprints, or start and stops). > My claim to fame was performance charging (something the nedra boys did > not really care about). With six chargers on-board I could maximize my > charging any where I was, which minimized the time I spent waiting. > > My Blazer had just enough horsepower to climb the mountains, albeit at a > lower speed, and it had six on-board chargers to use to reduce recharge > time. Here is a map of my route, (I had to add a couple of spots I did not stop > at so Google maps would show the correct route) > http://goo.gl/maps/xSOx8 > > -I connected to the two 14-50 outlets at Hewlett-Packard in Cupertino, I had > originally put the order in for, but the bulk charge was over quickly, and the > time spent was mostly a finishing charge on my 132V US145 PbSO4 wet-cell > pack > > -I left there for the Colma BART station as I knew I could reach it on a straight > shot. I was able to tap into an Avcon and two level-1 outlets > http://www.recargo.com/sites/652 > > -After reaching 80%SOC, I left for Half Moon Airport where the Pacific Dream > Machines EVent was being held. Here is an EVent page with some images of > the doings http://brucedp00.0catch.com/pcdm00/ > > You note it was an open airport field that was used to park all the various > types of vehicles/items for the public to walk around and see. Though the > number of EVs were small, we still made for a good showing as most people > had never seen an EV before. Though there had been some talk that level-1 > power would be provided at the EVent, I was unplugged for a paying vendor > to plug into. Which was a shame because I spent all-day there, and a level-1 I > would have reduced my recharge time. > > -After the EVent when all the odd-ball vehicles and the public had left, I left > and went a few miles south down the coastal Highway 1 to a RV park, where I > paid the full overnight fee to tap into their 14-50 outlet. > > I locked up and took off with a fellow EAA member to go a nearby Half Moon > Bay restaurant. But afterward (about an hour) I wanted to return to check on > my charge before killing more time walking around downtown. Yup, sure > enough, a park's breaker had popped/tripped (not the one on the stanchion, > but the breaker feeding the stanchion. I unplugged my EV (so it would look in > innocent mode) and it took some doing to get the park manager out of their > chair to go reset the feeding breaker. I got my EV charging again, but learned > the hard way that not all RV parks have their act together. It seems at that > park, you can not assume that the 14-50, TT-30, and 5-20 are independently > breaker-ed. In their case all three breaker-ed circuits at the stanchion were > fed off one 50A breaker that was buried in a locked panel (they went cheap > on the power layout). With the park manager now safely gone, hiding in his > comfy TV chair, I dug out the long extension cords out of my back seat and > drew power from some unused RV spaces (one 14-50, two > 5-20 outlets). > > -After two hours of charging to 80%SOC, I left to climb highway 92 up the > 2000' mountain. The climb on the coast side was much more manageable > with lanes so the speed-demons could pass on the left. With nearly a full > charge, my EV tractor-ed up the mountain at about the speed limit. > > But instead of driving down the twisty curvy part of 92 down to Silicon Valley, > I decided to turn off at the summit and take the road that runs along the top > of the mountain range (Highway 35, Skyline Blvd.) it was a gentle down hill > drive until I turned off onto Highway 9 down to Saratoga. > From Saratoga again it was a gentle down hill drive back to Cupertino. Where > I plugged into two 14-50's and two 5-20 outlets for a few hours before > heading home to put my Blazer EV on a level-1 overnight charge to balance > the pack. > > I had met the challenge by driving north on flat Highway 101 to Colma BART, > then fairly flat Highway 1 back south down to the EVent. Paid for charging a > few miles away, climbed a mountain, and then took a gentle pleasant ride > along the top of the mountains before dropping down to recharge again at > the point of origin. > > I was quite pleased with how well the task had gone, even with the loss of an > hour+ because of the tripped breaker. I had accomplished much: > > -I along with other EVs had made contact with Half Moon Bay locals to give > them their first takes of what an EV was, and saw the jaw drop when I told > them I came from the valley ('I did not know you could do that with a golf cart > ...' , yea though it was sitting right there, I had to show them my Blazer was > not a golf cart). > > -Though expensive, I proved I could charge quite well using an RV park (I > would just need to be sure to keep an eye on each park's quirks). > > -I was quite pleased with being able to climb highway 92 to the summit. It > would have been quite difficult if I had not gotten a charge at the RV park (I > would have had to be towed back home). > > -Being able to drive Skyline Blvd = priceless. Since there was no EVSE > anywhere back then, this was my one time to enjoy this route. > > -And lastly at the end, using all my chargers at to 80%SOC before heading > home (one 5kW NG5, two 2.5kW Zivan K2's, and two 1.5kW K2's = ~13kW > going in, ... sweet! ). > > Yup, it is one of many fond EV memories I have ... > > % Happy Earth Day % > > > {brucedp.150m.com} > ... > http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=afk > > > > > > > -- > View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion- > list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Happy-Earth-day-plugin-drivers-celebrate- > EVents-tp4662555.html > Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at > Nabble.com. > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA > (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
