[ausev] Anyone attend the 5th EVer EV chapter gathering?

[Aaron Choate]

Ahhh yes.  He is probably talking about the fun that several of the cars had
doing burnouts at the improptu EV show at the Pep Boys (after the Raceway
event got rained out).  They needed to let the smoke out of their tires
after driving all that way to attend the event.  Racers had traveled from
Oregon and from Florida as well as several closer states with their cars.
It was REALLY too bad that the races and the alternative fuel show got
rained out.

However, the EAA related presentations and talks went on as planned.  In
particular, they did have a good presentation about a new battery company
that is evolving out of research that was being done by CAT (the earth
moving/construction vehicle company).  It is called Firefly and they are
researching ways to make Lead Acid batteries more efficient.  Their premis
(this is coming from marketing/investor relations so take with as many
grains of salt as you wish) is that advanced chemical batteries are already
close to their maximum capacity for the chemistries they are using and that
they will be unlikely to come down in price, even with increased production
due to things like plug-in hybrid demand (this point in particular is
especially debated).  They feel that the chemicals involved in produing
these batteries are in such high demand in other industries that there will
be a big problem with supply into the forseabe future...  So, they are
concentrating on the good old Lead Acid mix.  They are playing around with
doing away with the plates and coils that we have grown used to hearing
about and instead are playing with a 3 dimensional matrix of graphite coated
lead.  They feel that this will vastly increase the surface area for the
chemical reactions to take place while the graphite coating will combat the
sulfation problem.  If any of it is true, this may really be a good thing
for the EV community.  Of course, they are concentrating on military and
heavy industry applications first (probably the next few years), but they do
have the Plug-in Hybrid and all battery vehicle markets on their list of
targets (probably three to five years out or so).

Honestly, that was the most exciting news from the whole thing.  There was a
tour of the Warfield Electric facilities which was cool.  The good news is
that the meeting was really well attended.  The bad news is that there were
so many of us that it was hard to hear what the "tour guide" was saying...
<grin>

The other big presentation on Sunday was a pitch from the Plug-in Hybrid
guys from good old Austin Energy.  They seem to be making great progress
with the campaign.  They announced that the city of Chicago had just signed
on to the effort.

We heard about an upcoming book about the development of Plug-in hybrids and
where they fit in the transportation mix (slated for sale in Jan/Feb of 2007
pre-orders available -- more details later) as well as the film "Who killed
the electric car." which is in selected theaters across the country now.
(Mark Farver is following up with the Arbor 7 manager to see if we can do
something locally when they show it)

I am sure I missed something, but we had fun and as always it was a real
treat to be able to get to see the people that are making EVs happen
today...

Cheers,

Aaorn Choate

On 5/25/06, Daniel J. Stewart <dstewart at cortechs.com> wrote:
>
>  Hey Aaron,
>
>
>
> The statement was a teaser for the DCEVA meeting (which I had to miss).
> It said "Hell-raising occurred at the EAA 5th EVer, where fireworks erupted
> over advanced batteries, smokey burnouts defied the rain gods, and much
> more".  Maybe he was just trying to be sensationalistic.
>
> Danny
>
>
> -------Original Message-------
> From: Aaron Choate
> Subject: Re: [ausev] Anyone attend the 5th EVer EV chapter gathering?
> Sent: 24 May '06 22:11
>
> Hey Danny,
>
> Mark, Chris and I attended and Ken and his wife were also there.  I don't
> recall any particular fireworks, but John and the crew did do their part to
> put more tire smoke into the air.  The big AFV show and NEDRA drags got
> cancelled due to bad weather so that was kind of a bummer.  What kind of
> "heck" were they talking about do you think?
>
> Cheers,
>
> Aaron Choate
>
>
> On 5/24/06, Daniel J. Stewart < dstewart at cortechs.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hey y'all,
> >
> > I heard through the grapevine that "all heck broke loose" at the 5th
> > EVer EV chapter gathering in Chicago.  Can anyone elaborate?
> >
> > Danny
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > AusEV mailing list
> > AusEV at austinev.org
> > http://www.austinev.org/mailman/listinfo/ausev
> >
> >
> >
>
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