Denver Electric Vehicle Council

2008 Events
April May 24-26 June	Zach Tyler EV Race and Expo Boulder Creek Festival Parade, Race and Expo
2008 DEVRA Racing schedule
4 May	1:00 at the FRCC parking lot in Longmont.
~ 8 June	1:00 at the FRCC parking lot in Longmont.
~ 20 July	1:00 at a location TBD
~ 31 Aug	1:00 at a location TBD
(Only the first date and place are firm, the others may change. Bill)

DEVC meeting: July 26th, 10am will be focused on Electric Bicycles at John Bidwell’s House in Fort Collins

Details: Multiple examples of currently available electric bicycles will be shown by their owners ( Optibike, Schwinn Upgrades, Trike conversions, custom Electric Motor bikes, bike pushers, and more). Members and guests are encouraged to bring their electric bikes and questions. A Q&A time will follow a short presentation about electric bikes and their battery options.

Directions: Take the Harmony exit from I-25 west to Timberline road. Turn Right/North on Timberline to Drake (2 miles from Harmony). Turn West/Left on Drake to Brookwood (fourth street on left after RR tracks). South/Left on Brookwood 3 blocks to Oxborough. Left on Oxborough ½ bock to Crystal Court. Left into Crystal Court (cul-de-sac) to 2801 Crystal Court. Please leave parking in front of house for Electric bicycles. Please park on adjacent streets (Silverwood or Oxborogh).

John Bidwell
2801 Crystal Court
Fort Collins, Co 80525

DEVC meeting: April 5th, 10am will be with John Olson (TDA Research Senior Chemist) at Wheel Experience Gallery
Details: Li-Ion Batteries for Vehicles: Challenges and R&D. Dr. John Olson just returned from the DOE Vehicle Technologies Review Meeting in Washington DC, where DOE reviews its three major Li-Ion battery programs, namely: USABC (commercial development); ATD (near term technologies) and BATT (long term technologies). John will give a brief review of Li-Ion batteries, including chemistries, life and safety, followed by Q&A time.

Conversions and what I have learned and what is the best way to get started featuring Zach Tyler. April 19 at 10 am.
'I never said I would do a DEVC meeting! Oh, I did? Well, I guess I have a couple of topics. Here are some possible titles: Starting a conversion business "How You Too Can Drive Youself Insane While Loosing Money and Friends", or "Why The Hell are You Interested In EV's When There Are Perfectly Good Internal Combustion Vehicles Out There Right Now!" or better yet, "Electric Cars, If you own one you'll be one of 50 people in the state still driving while the rest of society is tearing itself apart". All kidding aside I'll probably talk about conversions and what I have learned by doing them, and what I think the best way to go about one is. There will be more to see. Here is a link to the BMW I just finished. The address is 2546 South Main Street, Erie CO 80516 Unit B.'

Best,
Zach

Killacycle!

World's fastest electric drag bike visited
the DEVC in Feb.! See the photos

Previous meetings:

2/23/08 Bill Dube presented Killacycle (World’s Fastest Drag-Racing Electric Motorcycle) www.killacycle.com

1/12/08 At Wheel Experience Gallery

8/18/07 At Wheel Experience Gallery,

7/24/07: at the offices of Nilar Inc.
Subject: Advanced Battery Technology for EVs. and a tour of the facility

6/26/07: at FRCC
The DEVC meeting on the 26th of June was attended by around 20 interested members, many of whom took a lively interest in the ideas presented!

The Guide to Battery Selection, Preparation, Charging, Use, and Maintenance is the result of Ross Smith's writings and interview by Bill Williams plus contributions by others at the meeting.

5/22/07 at HybridsPlus
Members of the DEVC met Tuesday evening in Boulder for a tour of the HybridsPlus facility. Long time DEVC members and HybridsPlus owners Carl Lawrence and Davide Andrea were our hosts for the evening. We observed how the cells were welded and built into complete battery packs. During the presentation we were told that their next conversion to PHEV was scheduled to be a Ford Escape Hybrid. A highlight of the evening was attending DEVC members pitching in to actually help install the replacement battery pack in a Toyota Prius, followed by a test drive of the car to prove how well it worked. The amount of time needed to actually install the pack itself was perhaps 15 minutes. Of course all of the difficult work had already been performed by the HybridsPlus staff. The old pack had already been removed and all of the pre-assembly for the new pack and vehicle modifications had been completed.

3/17/07 at Long's Garden in Boulder. With the theme "Solar Power in Agriculture" we had a selection of presentations and displays. Thanks to Catherine Long's hosting the event we were provided with coffee and cookies and got a tour of her new photovoltaic power installation. It was installed last fall and provides a maximum output of 9.7 KW, powering the business and her home too. Gary Leever of Nameste Solar was our tour guide for the solar installation and the ancilliary equipment to convert the DC to AC for distribution and resale of surplus to Excel Energy. A number of members took a keen interest in the installation and there may be more installations in the future of some club members.

George Gless, the longtime member and newsletter editor, was kind enough to drive his GE Electric garden tractor over and to explain the details of its use and operation. George has had it for a number of years, having bought it from another member, Richard Schalhammer. George uses it to plow snow and garden as well as for mowing and other tasks. Several were surprised to find that it was electric!

In the same vein Tom Lopez of Longmont brought a range of electric garden equipment that he manufactures and sells. There was a solar charged, battery powered lawn mower; a small solar garden tiller; and a full sized tiller equipped with a "flip plow" that was demonstrated to an interested group. It showed a willingness to "Dig Right In!" and Ken Jones, a member with a strong agricultural background, took the tiller handles and put it to work. After cutting a furrow, turning the tiller and flipping the shares, and plowing back, he pronounced it satisfactory!

There was one new member added at this meeting; let us welcome Rick and Liwh Ferguson of Colorado Springs to our organisation. Also long time member Robert Bushnell was there as was Bob Patterson, a well known Scot and Glaswegian! Glad to see everyone; all sixteen members and visitors had a good time! Our next meeting is in the planning stages and will be announced shortly. There will be a DEVC sponsored event in Longmont at the FRCC campus where you are invited to bring and show your EV's. The highlight will be a DEVRA electric car race with registration and tech inspection starting at 11:00 and the race starting at 1:00, lasting for one hour!

Bill in Boulder "Engineering as an Art Form!"