It’s here: National Drive Electric Week. Round 1 was Falls Church, at Coleman PowerSports. This time, the numerous EVs included the underpromoted Ford Focus
…and the far more rare (here, at least) Kia Soul EV- brought from the West Coast by a recent “immigrant.” This being Coleman, though, many of the numerous EVs were Zero motorcycles, as the manufacturer was having a demo day.
Speaking of the University of Maryland… The College Park Campus, already well-represented in the area’s charging count, just won’t stop. Three parking structures will not only install more EVSEs, but solar canopies to power those charging spaces. The campus as a whole already runs a solar “farm” nearby, as well as buying solar and wind credits. Then in late 2016, the Terrapin Trail, Regents Drive, and Mowatt Lane Garages will be powered by solar roofs. The coverage won’t just shade vehicles and provide EV power; the three canopies will send surplus power to other campus buildings.
This is all in addition to American University and GWU producing or buying a majority of their electricity from new solar ventures, and Catholic University’s onsite arrays. UMD has more charging, but theirs is a suburban campus of course. American and GWU have their own Metro stops and bikeshare racks, and each still has a token EVSE.
Lots of E-Vents, including a big one coming up: the 2015 EV Grand Prix on May 16, at RFK Stadium. But plenty of other news this month. We started immediately with mingling, pizza, and drinks. As usual, the Rockville Library will validate your parking in the garage across the street. President Ron called the meeting, and we introduced new faces all around. Attendees represented makes of all types, e-bikes, conversions, and even a biodiesel driver. Three people are now shopping for EVs, and our regular Carsten has quit his job and is starting a solar company. Pedro from the University of Maryland is doing an EV study, and did a survey of our charging habits, preferences, and desires.
Bill spoke for Nabih, the organizer from Global EEE for the EV Grand Prix, who had a prior appointment. The third running of the metro area high school engineering, racing, and teamwork competition will be 1:30 Saturday, May 16. It will take place in the parking lots north of RFK Stadium; this had been the site of a fossil-fueled race a decade ago. See the event’s Facebook page at facebook.com/DCEVGP. Emil and Charles were on hand from the DC government, to brief us on activities (such as making RFK happen) and thank us for our help. Their goal is to operate the E-Vent on only solar or biodiesel generators; meanwhile, they are supporting DC high school teams. 
The number of high schools keeps increasing; we are now over twenty, and some schools will have multiple entries. Mentors for school teams are still welcome by all means. For the purposes of the club, we are explicitly soliciting race volunteers. There is a particular need for tech inspectors, checking off competitors’ vehicles per the rules. However, there’s no shortage of other roles: media, concessions, staffing information or display tables, or just crowd control if nothing else. See our signupgeniuswebsite and help us out however you can. Before the race, there will be an EV parade at 1:00 (which means show vehicles must be lined up well before). Please sign up to be in the parade, especially if you have a vehicle that isn’t already represented. Or just volunteer to wrangle the other parade entrants.
The first annual Montgomery County Green Fest in Takoma Park was a success. There were ten cars, many from our club, a panel discussion on EVs, and members as event volunteers. Similarly but smaller in scale, Raymond Chu held an EV presentation in the Calvert County Library. We ran a booth at the National Sustainable Design Expo in Alexandria; this was primarily college projects, but we got enthusiastic questions too. The DC Environmental Film Festival featured the world premier of The Burden: Fossil Fuel, the Military, and National Security; a few of us attended the documentary, and a Q&A afterwards with the director and several bigwigs.
More E-Vents were occurring, or are upcoming; besides the Earth Day concert on the Mall (too crowded for cars), meet-and-greets/car shows were held by Geico, TSA/EPA, Takoma Park itself, Fort Meade, the USPTO, NIH, and Rockville Science Day at Montgomery College. After the EVGP will be the annual Junior Solar Sprints at Friendship School on Benning Road May 19. There will be a fundraiser/car show for wounded veterans in Herndon the morning of May 9, see Michael at operationvetshaven.org. The Fathers’ Day car show in Crystal City needs some clean action again, see Rob. Continue reading
We already knew GM was releasing the Spark EV for Maryland sales- the first East Coast market. Now, Honda announced lease renewals for Fit EVs; they don’t want to kill the electric car (yet). Current leaseholders, and customers for used Fit EVs, can sign two-year extensions or leases respectively, for $199 a month. There is no down payment or mileage limit, and collision coverage is included.
It’s not all mooncakes and saki, however. The terms indicate this extension is the end; there will be no option to re-extend or purchase in 2017. And this is all assuming you can find a Honda Fit EV. The company made little effort to promote or sell them any more than they had to. Still, we’ve got members who have one and they recommend them. As long as you like blue, apparently.
Our new digs in the Rockville Public Library are great! They’re right off the ice rink on Maryland Ave. in Rockville Town Center. Hope to see you there for the next few meetings, even if you missed February (brrr). Member Deborah lives just 1/3 of a mile from the Library, in case the charger in Garage A isn’t enough. The Library also validates Garage parking at a discount. We started with pizza, drinks, and cake, then introduced everyone. Welcome to new e-thusiasts of domestic, clean, and quite snappy transport. New and existing members are encouraged to
sign up with our umbrella organization, EAA, which offers us a discount.
We recapped our Auto Show(s!) outreach. The DC Show had club members’ cars, an electric racer and a spare chassis, Phelps High School’s EV Grand Prix racer, and a pedal/electric Elf enclosed recumbent, quite the draw. We were also next to EVs from Chevy and Cadillac, VW, BMW, Kia, and a Hyundai hybrid. This included the Chevy Spark (now coming to Maryland) and 2016 Volt. Toyota unfortunately chose to promote a fuel cell car, sticking the Prius Plug-In in a corner. However, GM did invite Volt owners to a presentation with news and developments. The Baltimore show also placed us well. We had a Think City on display; unlike DC, Baltimore had electrics from Ford and Mercedes. Thanks to all who volunteered their EVs, time, and effort.
A little more exclusive was an EV charging summit on Capitol Hill; senators Merkley and Carper attended. California utility PG&E announced an initiative for thousands of EVSE sites, including plans for multiunit housing. This had members discuss charge networks with only one or two sites in driving distance, or odd membership terms.
In state news, Maryland’s EV Infrastructure Council announced a deployment. After a settlement with Constellation Energy, 3 firms bid to install EVSEs with the money, including fast DC chargers. Both CHAdeMO and SAE CCS chargers will run from Hagerstown to Ocean City, Elkton to Waldorf. Ground’s already been broken on some, with October openings; no word on if sites will also have J1772. Continue reading
