-
- Why you should attend:
· Get a clear, concise and fuel neutral picture of the currently available alternative fuel vehicles
· Better understand which fuels make sense for which fleets
· Save money by finding out about available incentives for vehicles, fuel and fueling infrastructure
· Hear from fleet professionals as they share success stories about adding AFVs to their fleets
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- This event is hosted by the Las Vegas Regional Clean Cities Coalition and there is no charge to attend.
For more information about enrolling in this workshop, contact:
Kasia McBride
Marketing Specialist
Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute
6771 W. Charleston Blvd, Ste C
Las Vegas, NV 89146-1049
702-254-4180
Tesla Roadster Visits Las Vegas July 27th-28th during Renew America Roadtrip
Michael Craner and Madushini “Maddy” Gunawardana are 21st century trailblazers. He is an electrical engineer who works on patent law issues. She is a medical student, who plans to study international medical law. They both live in Rochester, New York and purchased a Tesla Roadster to make a difference in the way Americans travel. The couple hoped to encourage the development of an electric car industry in the U.S. by partnering with other Tesla Roadster owners to drive cross country in their all-electric sports car this summer. They created the Renew America Roadtrip that traveled from New York to Los Angeles from July 15th – 31st. The organization’s web site is at: http://www.renewamericaroadtrip.com
The pair were supported online by a team they had assembled from every state and region they visited along the way. The Electric Auto Association (EAA), of which the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association (LVEVA) is a local chapter, supported their cross-country effort. EAA Board of Director member Jerry Asher joined the caravan and provided support with the “Spirit of DC” Plug-in Toyota Prius hybrid. The couple arrived in Las Vegas during the afternoon of July 27th to visit the local Las Vegas Springs Preserve, a museum that highlights the original natural springs that provided an oasis to early Spanish explorers of the Southwest. These men discovered “the meadows” in the middle of a dry, hot, unforgiving Mojave desert and gave the Las Vegas valley its name. The Springs Preserve highlights the history of the area as well as being a showcase for water conservation, desert landscaping and renewable energy development.
Michael and Maddy experienced some of the same feelings as these early explorers, staying in Las Vegas during two of the hottest days of the year. LVEVA members Jan Himber, Al Sawyer and Dan Trujillo drove to St. George, Utah, to escort them into Las Vegas. When the caravan arrived at the Springs Preserve on the afternoon of Monday, July 27th, the temperature was 110 degrees. On Tuesday, the temperature continued to climb to 112 degrees. Fortunately, they were able to take respite from the heat at the Wolfgang Puck Café at the Springs Preserve as well as enjoy a panoramic view of the surrounding Las Vegas Valley. About 30 people gathered to greet their arrival and media coverage of the event was provided by KVVU-TV, the local Fox network affiliate at: http://www.fox5vegas.com
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LVEVA member Lou Baker also brought three electric vehicles to show during both the Springs Preserve and EV Fiesta event the following day. These included a factory-modified 1999 Ford Ranger EV pickup truck, a Bombardier Class-e Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) and a vintage 1960s-era Electra King that Lou affectionately called the “Mr. Magoo car”. The Electra King was manufactured by the B & Z Electric Car Company in Long Beach, California. The B & Z Electric Car Company was founded in 1961 and continued building three-wheel and four-wheel electric cars until 1980, when it changed its business model to become a distributor for sales of imported electric vehicles.
In the evening, the couple checked into the Element Hotel where a reception was staged for them by the hotel owner, who was a sponsor for the national event. Element Hotel General Manager David Smith is shown plugging into the Tesla Roadster in the following picture:
Earl Cox, another Tesla owner from Los Angeles, met the Renew America Roadtrip at the Element Hotel while en route to his destination in St. George and on to Salt Lake City in the opposite direction. He is credited by other Tesla Roadster owners as being the first driver to make the roadtrip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back. Earl gave the couple some tips on working through potential thermal overheating problems with the Tesla PEM electronics control module that he had encountered on his way into Las Vegas from Barstow that day. Based on his recommendations, the Renew America Roadtrip extended their stay on Tuesday to depart later at night, when temperature conditions were cooler.
The Element Hotels are built to U.S. Green Building Council standards using a points accreditation system under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The Element Hotel is part of the Westin hotel chain and Starwood Resorts. The owner of the hotel and his staff extended extraordinary hospitality to accommodate every need of the caravan members. The conference room and hotel parking lot were also provided to help stage an Electric Vehicle Fiesta on Tuesday, July 28th from 9 AM to noon.
Six other electric cars joined the Tesla Roadster and “Spirit of DC” Plug-in Toyota Prius as part of the exhibition. In addition to Lou Baker’s Ford Ranger Electric Pickup truck, Bombardier Class-e NEV, and Electra King vintage electric car provided by Lou Baker, Lloyd Reece and Dan Trujillo also brought their 1981 Lectra Motors Centauri cars.
The Lectra Motors Centauri was first built here in Las Vegas at 5860 Valley View Blvd. almost 30 years ago. In the above picture, standing left to right are Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association Board of Director members Bill Kuehl, Al Sawyer and Lloyd Wayne Reece. Al Sawyer was the founder, President, and Director of Research for Lectra Motors. The company produced about 1,000 cars and trucks from 1979 to 1982.
Comparisons in technology:
Range
Tesla Roadster - 240 miles per charge
Lectra Centauri - 60 to 70 miles per charge
Top Speed
Tesla Roadster - 150 mph
Lectra Centauri - 80 mph
Acceleration
Tesla Roadster - 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds
Lectra Centauri - 0 to 60 mph in 9 seconds
Battery Pack
Tesla Roadster - 6,831 Lithium Ion battery cells
Lectra Centauri - 18 Flooded Lead Acid Golf Cart Batteries
Battery Pack Monitoring System
Tesla Roadster - Yes
Lectra Centauri - Yes
Air Conditioning and Heater Powered by Battery Pack
Tesla Roadster - Yes
Lectra Centauri - Yes
Price - Tesla Roadster @ $110,000 vs. Lectra Centauri @ $20,000 (1981 prices)
Jim Stansbury from The Physics Lab of Lake Havasu in Arizona exhibited a 4-wheel drive, heavy duty series hybrid gasoline/electric vehicle that demonstrated how to harvest kinetic and thermal energy from the suspension and waste engine heat in order to obtain more efficient power usage from an electric drive train.
During the same time, the conference room sessions featured presentations about local Las Vegas electric vehicle efforts, new electric vehicle technologies, renewable energy, and refueling station infrastructure. Rick Hurt of the UNLV Center for Energy Research showed an illuminating PowerPoint presentation on the power efficiency gains by Amonix solar cell company that are exceeding 25% . Amonix high concentration photovoltaic solar cell and motorized sun-tracking technologies are being widely adopted for energy generation projects by NV Energy and the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas. Michael and Maddy ended the morning conference by providing highlights of their cross-country journey.
At the end of the EV Fiesta, the couple departed for the Rampart Casino for lunch. In the valet station of the parking garage of the Rampart Casino was installed a Coulomb Technologies Smartlet™ recharging station, part of the company’s ChargePoint™ network of recharging stations. Coulomb Technologies is a national sponsor for the Renew America Roadtrip at: http://www.coulombtech.com
After lunch, the couple departed for a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, then returned to the Element Hotel to pack their bags, top off the battery pack of the Tesla Roadster and prepare for the caravan’s journey on to Barstow, CA. The Renew America Roadtrip caravan began leaving Las Vegas about 8 PM on Tuesday, July 28th, en route to an overnight recharge in Barstow, California. The team then drove on to the Sheraton Hotel near Universal Studios on July 29th where they were greeted by several other Tesla Motor Roadster owners to celebrate their arrival in Los Angeles. One last stop in Seal Beach, California brought the Renew America Road Trip to the Pacific Ocean to complete their cross country trek.
Even though the Tesla Motors Roadster has a maximum range of about 240 miles between charges, the Renew America Road Trip planners calculated nominal road trip legs for a range of about 160 to 196 miles to minimize recharge times and allow extra battery reserves in case of unplanned logistical problems or events. Most of the Tesla Roadster recharging electronic circuitry is carried onboard the vehicle.
The Roadster can be recharged from a standard 110-VAC wall outlet but is more quickly charged from a 240-VAC, 30-Amp source in about 7 to 10 hours. Most residential garages and buildings are wired for this type of electrical configuration, in order to provide power for electric dryers and other appliances. The mobile high voltage charging cable from Tesla Motors (MC120 or MC 240) includes a power conditioning electronics box located midway from the power outlet to the input connector of the Tesla Roadster.
Tesla had also developed a proprietary High Power Charger (HPC) that can provide 240-VAC, 70-Amp power source that can fully recharge the Tesla Roadster in about 3 ½ hours. This type of charging system requires an electrician to install a special 240-VAC, 70-Amp line that must be run from the grid junction box to the HPC charging station. The incoming grid power is conditioned at the HPC and then sent on to the battery pack charging system of the Tesla Roadster.
Fortunately, most Recreational Vehicle camp sites are equipped with 240-VAC, 50-Amp outlets for the large RVs that also travel these same cross-country routes. The planning team has estimated that there are approximately 700 RV campgrounds located within 30 miles at different points along his route of travel that have 240-VAC, 50-Amp resources. Household or hotel dryer outlets at 240-VAC, 30-Amps also served as a plentiful source of recharging sites for the Tesla Roadster. The overland trip between Las Vegas to Barstow is a long stretch of hot desert during the month of July, with very few refueling stations in between. The Mojave desert tested the limits of the Tesla Roadster and its Lithium-Ion battery pack, as well as the stamina of its two drivers during this part of the road trip.
Ongoing efforts are being encouraged by Tesla Roadster owners to donate an HPC charger to a KOA RV campground in Barstow that can become an established waypoint for recharging the vehicles between LA and Las Vegas for future Tesla owners.
NEDRA Wayland Invitational Highlights July 25 – 26th
World’s Quickest Electric Vehicles to Race at Portland International Raceway.
Date: Saturday, July 18, 2009, 1:38 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PORTLAND, OR (JULY 4, 2009) - John ‘Plasma Boy’ Wayland, of Plasma Boy Racing and NEDRA (National Electric Drag Racing Association), are pleased to announce the Wayland Invitational IV at Portland International Raceway (PIR), July 24th and 25th, 2009 at 6:00 pm.
Come and see what electric power is all about at the hottest electric vehicle racing event of the year. Electric vehicles (EVs) from the newest production cars, including six or more Tesla Roadsters and the Tango, to 11 second street rides, to all-out 7 second drag bikes and rails that will be pushing the EV performance envelope for 1/4 mile acceleration dominance.
Wayland and his electric drag car ‘White Zombie’ are well-known for breaking through barriers in the electric car world. John Fialka of The Wall Street Journal said, “White Zombie is leaving conventional muscle cars in the dust.” Wayland co-founded NEDRA and has been featured in television shows (The Speed Channel and OPB’s Oregon Field Guide), newspapers (The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times), and magazine articles (Retro Cars and Car & Driver).
Plasma Boy Racing’s mission is to educate, inform, and demonstrate to the public that electric cars can be exciting as well as environmentally responsible. Going green doesn't mean slow, dull, and boring! Join us in cheering on the world's quickest and most powerful tire shredding, pure battery powered cars, trucks, and motor cycles as they mix it up with conventional gasoline vehicles in two nights of heads-up drag racing fun!
The event will take place on July 24th and 25th, 2009. PIR’s gates open at 6:00 pm, both Friday and Saturday. Admission is $8.00 for adults, $5.00 for children ages 6 to 12, and children 5 and under are free. All racers will pay a $25.00 entrance fee. If you have not raced at PIR before, the track charges a $20.00 racer registration fee which is good for two years. An optional donation at the gate will benefit Curtis Cottengim, a local young autistic boy who needs a service dog.
Portland International Raceway is located at West Delta Park - 1940 N. Victory Boulevard, Portland, Oregon 97217. For more information on the raceway, go to PIR’s website at www.portlandraceway.com.
Part of the racing fun includes a traditional Saturday morning Electric Breakfast & EV Show & Shine at the Village Inn restaurant located at 10301 S.E. Stark Street, on the corner of S.E. Stark and S.E. 103rd Drive in East Portland. People will start to gather around 8:00 am, and continues until noon. All EVs are welcome to be on display at our Electric Breakfast & EV Show & Shine.
For more information on John Wayland and the Plasma Boy Racing organization, please visit www.plasmaboyracing.com
and for more information on NEDRA, please visit www.nedra.com
To see what ‘White Zombie’ can achieve and what EV racing is all about, check out these links to some great videos:
OPB’s Oregon Field Guide - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrHXdM9f13k
Running on Lithium - http://www.youtube.com/user/filmrancher#play/uploads/5/dIHyHFq9iwk
CONTACT:
Roy LeMeur, Event Chairman
Tel: (360)-528-0468
Email: roylemeur@hotmail.com
Marissa Wayland, Event/PR Coordinator
Tel: (503)-256-5064
Email: rissa@plasmaboyracing.com
Highlights from Otmar Ebenhoech on EV Discussion List:
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 2009 15:29:28 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [EVDL] The Wayland Invitational Experience
To: ev@lists.sjsu.edu
Once again Portland has proven to be an excellent place for a EV gathering. This year the Wayland Invitational was better than ever!
Friday afternoon I brought my Porsche 914 electric up for display bringing along some friends, including EV legend Bob Schneeveis who was up from the Bay Area for the event. We arrived at the Wayland residence AKA "The Wayland Juice Bar" to a party in full swing, which was to be repeated again on Saturday after the EV display at the Village Inn. With all that was going on
there, I now forget what happened Friday and what was on Saturday. Many friends old and new were there plus the usual media interviews and even a celebrity of racing Nobuhiro Tajima of the Suzuki Motorsport team freshly arrived after their overall win at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb. EV's were sucking down the amps all around - three Teslas were charging full bore from 14-50 outlets, Jorg's Tango was also pulling big amps, Marko Mongillo's Sweet Datsun was juicing up, plus a few more I can't recall. The Wayland EV Juice Bar was really living up to its name. I hear his electric service is not standard, but he won't disclose to me what he did to it! People were
putting finishing touches on projects and much connecting and sharing of information was going on.
At some point on Friday, the Teslas arrived and a caravan to PIR drag strip ensued. What a sight! A long line of Teslas following John's White Zombie with Marko's Datsun Minitruck in there as well. Those of us in support vehicles trailed behind this line of EV's. Kelly is a highly respected
mechanic who works on forklifts with Wayland as well as on Team Plasma Boy. She was piloting the Northwest Handling support truck for the Zombie. I pulled up next to her in my stretch VW Vanagon that I use to tow the 914 EV and we proceeded to start the day of racing early. I have to report that he turbo diesel beat out mine, but both of them are too noisy. :)
As usual, the track had plenty of power and the Spider box was plugged in, while piles of cords and chargers invaded the EV charging area. Bill Dube, Eva and the Killacyle team were there with a sweet traveling race setup. Their generator being one of the quietest I've seen in such a small size.
Both race nights went on late, tapering off near midnight. I guess that's why they call it the late night drags. I was so busy talking with friends old and new that I rarely knew who was racing, but every now and then I'd catch runs. Roger Mansfield brought his gorgeous 914 conversion on Saturday for his first run down a drag strip. It really was not set up to race, but with a little adjustment of the Zilla settings I got it to pull a 18 second run which I thought was a good start for a never raced street setup. I'm sure there is more in it and I hope he continues to tweak it and bring it out for some more racing.
Saturday was in no way a typical day in Portland as the sun beat down on the Village Inn parking lot crowded with EV's. There were more Teslas than the northwest had ever seen, including the first Roadster Sport model ever to be delivered, brought down from Washington by James Morrison of EV Components. It was only hours old when he first raced it in the ¼-mile Friday night. Mike Willmon’s Crazy Horse Pinto and Neon's beautiful dune buggy were lining the main street, pulling in unsuspecting travellers to our beehive of activity. The parking lot was full of various EV's and a crowd of interested people discussing them. A “4 Paws for Ability” (www.4paws4curtis.com) service dog was hanging out in the shade at the raffle table, and of course the wonderful Curtis for whom we were raising money to get a dog of his own was
there as well. The young Curtis even got to go for a ride in the Tesla Sport. He returned smiling. I heard a number of people comment about how open and generous the EVers were, sharing information and promoting the cause. And I think I am not the only one to say it felt like the good old days.
Unfortunately, The Crazy Horse Pinto developed an issue where the Zilla was shutting down right at launch (to protect itself). The team and I spent quite some effort on Saturday trying to find the problem including swapping out the Z2K for the new one out of my car. Then, we had to swap them back again so I offered to do that. I tried to get someone to time how quickly I could swap the controller, but I never heard the result. I'm sure it was much longer than the 15 seconds it takes to swap one in my car. Alas, the solution eluded us and I feel very bad that they made such a long trip only to have many runs missed due to a malfunction that involved my controller. I
think that they may have a fault to chassis somewhere in the motor, contactor or cabling that is putting controller output noise on the chassis, they said they will get a hi-pot tester on it. At these very high voltages (they run 360V which is above the Zilla rating) those sorts of noise issues
can be hard to track.
Dave Cloud showed up with his dragster a bit late on Saturday and managed to get a few runs in. If you even want to see creativity in action, take a look at his controller that's made of contactors and pneumatics. No one said it was smooth, but I admire what he's pulled off there.
Saturday afternoon I got a special treat when James Morrison of EV Components offered up his Tesla Sport for a drive. I have sort of driven a Tesla before, but that was many years ago when they were just starting out and that "Tesla" was hardly one, only a quick conversion of a Lotus that was being used as a test mule. I've ridden in a few others but it did not prepare me for the experience of driving a fully loaded Roadster Sport. I don't have the words to convey how smooth and integrated the experience was. Everything from NVH (noise vibration and harshness) to steering and braking feel, to accelerator pedal response has been optimized extremely well. I
felt I was piloting a flying carpet as we maneuvered around those pylons they call cars on the freeway. It was a bit like riding a superbike, but much more comfortable.
By late Saturday I was well worn out, lot's of sun and conversations having taken their toll. We loaded hooked the 914 EV up to my Stretch VW tow rig and headed for home. Looking back I think that this was one of the best EVents ever, combining the camaraderie of the old days with the new technology and performance of today.
Many thanks go out to John, Plasma Girl and the many volunteers who pitched in to make this event a success.
I can't wait to push the technology some more, and see you all at the next one.
-----
-Otmar-
914 EV, California Poppy,
http://evcl.com/914/
http://www.CafeElectric.com/
The Zilla factory.
Killacycle Team Highlights (with pictures) at Wayland Invitational from Eva Hakansson at: http://www.evahakansson.se
(Editors’ Note: Text follows):
I have made the ride of my life! 104 mph down the strip in a Tesla Roadster! Nothing can wipe that EV grin off my face!
Bill Dube and I just got back home after an exiting and exhausting trip to Portland, Oregon. 1,200 miles one-way means 4 days of driving for two days of racing. But it was worth it - the Wayland Invitational at Portland International Raceway was a great event! John Wayland had worked hard to get many exciting EVs to the track. His powerful White Zombie was there of course. The White Zombie is a street car that runs in the 11’s! That is something! The big attraction was a bunch of Tesla Roadsters (5 or 6 I think). A smoking fast Tango Commuter Car torn up the strip by running in the 12’s. And of course Michael “T-Rex” Kadie was there with his beautiful Daytona. And many more EVs.
The plan was to race the KillaCycle head-to-head against the Shredder X 1/10-scale R/C model of the KillaCycle and I planned to race the ElectroCat electric motorcycle. All of that became somewhat of an anti-climax. But an awesome ride behind the steering wheel in a Tesla Roadster made up more than well for the rest!
On-track surgery of the KillaCycle
First a small damage report. KillaCycle burned up a motor during the very first run and we had to spend the first night changing it to a new one. The motor got burnt in Las Vegas a month ago, but we didn’t discover it. One more run was all it could take. Luckily, Jim “The Motor Magician” Husted at Hi-Torque electric had brought a brand new motor to the track and delivered it to one of the EVers there. I never caught the name of him, but he was very, very kind and did let us get the motor instead. Otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to make any more runs with the KillaCycle.
The motor ran great, as they always do when Jim Husted has put his hands on them, but we ran in to more problems – the KillaCycle suddenly refused to make the series-parallel shift. The first half of the track the motors are connected in series and both motors get the full current and thus give the full torque. About half way down the track the motors need more voltage to continue to accelerate and it shifts electrically so that the motors are in parallel and get the full voltage to reach higher speed. After we replaced the motor this didn’t work anymore. It is probably some wire in the low-voltage systems that has came loose. We will have to check everything when we get back home. :-( Nevertheless, KillaCycle made runs in the 8’s in “first gear” only and gave the show that the audience was there to watch. With the shift working, it is highly possible that we would have got a new record.
Something that ran flawless the entire weekend was our new power system from CumminsOnan (to the right in the picture). The absolutely awesome CumminsOnan HQD Hybrid Quiet Diesel gives up to 10 kW power - enough to recharge both the KillaCycle and other EVs. Power is always a scare resource at EV events and we let other people use our "juice". The generator runs on BioDiesel to make the carbon footprint as low as possible. The HQD systems gives seamless power and is the perfect green off-grid power!
A mini-KillaCycle on the drag strip
The Shredder X is the world’s quickest electric radio controlled drag bike. It usually tears up the drag strip. It make the 1/10 scale drag strip (132 ft) in 2 seconds @ 65 mph. That means that it comes out of hall quicker than the KillaCycle! Robb Millard, the builder of Shredder X, had painted up a model like the KillaCycle and Bill had built an extremely powerful little battery pack with the new A123Systems Formula 1 cells that soon will go in the real KillaCycle. We were expecting a tough race between the two bikes.
Unfortunately the scale model didn’t tear the strip as we hoped. The Shredder X usually sets better 60 ft times than the real KillaCycle, but the track surface didn’t agree with it. (It also was too low to trigger the 60 ft beam). The RC people usually run on normal pavement, but on the track surface it didn’t launch good at all. On the first run it crashed and the little rider lost an arm. Robb managed to repair the bike and rider, but he never got to run straight. It was very unfortunate because Discovery Channel was there to film the race between the real KillaCycle and the scale KillaCycle. However, Robb Millard had made a wonderful job with the model and it was one of the large attractions at the race anyway. If you want your own extremely fast and powerful RC KillaCycle, they are $700 for a turn-key model (with radio) and $200 for a rolling chassis.
ElectroCat and the Cinderella syndrome
I have been so insanely busy with my summer Calculus class and with getting KillaCycle and our “new” race trailer ready, that I didn’t get ElectroCat race ready before we left for Portland. ElectroCat is geared for 72 V, but the pack voltage is at the moment 53 V. It makes the top speed embarrassing low 55 mph. To boost the top speed I built a little pack with six 40 Ah cells that I planned to simply put in series with the present pack. With 40 Ah instead of 90 Ah this extra little pack has less than half the capacity, but it would be more than enough to down the strip. But ambition was apparently too high (which isn’t unusual for me). I got the battery pack and battery holder ready and installed before we left, as well as the required disconnect that shut down the bike if the rider gets separated from the bike. When we got to the track, I had about 1.5 hour of wiring work to do to hook up the new little pack and the bike would be ready to race with a projected top speed of 75 mph or so. But because I was far too busy with the KillaCycle, I never got the 1.5 hour of time that I would have needed. I have to admit that I felt like Cinderella that didn’t get her own dress ready for the royal ball because she had been making the dresses for her step sisters…. :-*( I will race ElectroCat at the NEDRA event at Bandimere September 27th instead.
I feel a little bad for my and KillaCycle’s very kind sponsor Riders Discount that has supplied me with a full set of state-of-art riding gear. Riders Discount had been looking forward to see me race ElectroCat. If you are thinking of buying motorcycle gear – do us a favor and take a look at www.ridersdiscount.com first. They have very competitive prices. If you decide to order – please let them know that you heard about them from us.
The largest EV grin on the planet – 104 mph down the strip in a Tesla!
Thanks to Dave Denhart, I soon forgot everything about Cinderella, burnt up motors and crashed scale models – I got to drive his beautiful yellow Tesla Roadster down the strip. And I really mean DRIVE, I was behind the steering wheel! Not only one time, but four times down the strip. It was the ride of my life! He told me to give it full throttle, and I did. That was worse than a roller-coaster ride. I had my heart in my mouth (or in my throat as we say in Swedish). I had to back off before the finishing line to swallow my heart again. I crossed the finishing line at an embarrassing 68 mph (109 km/h) and the owner Dave immediately sent me out on strip again. The Teslas had constantly run 104 mph, and I had to get up to at least 100 mph to not be embarrassing.
The second run I gave it more, but this time I wasn’t sure where the end of the track was so I backed off too early. It was after 10 PM at night and the end of the track was dark. I crossed the finishing line at decent 97 mph (155 km/h). After making sure that there was still enough juice in the Tesla’s giant lithium-ion battery, Dave sent me out for a third run. I crossed the finishing line after 13.06 seconds @ 104.07 mph (166 km/h). (They guy in the other lane with an Audi RS4 had no chance on me). My run was both quicker and faster than the Tesla owner Dave got himself, but the difference is simply because I am smaller and lighter. After a fourth run, I was done. The car still had much more juice left in the battery, but my batteries were at more than 100 % DOD (Depth of Discharge). I had got the ride of my life!
Ferrari or Tesla – the choice is easy!
A couple of years ago I got the opportunity to drive a $300,000 Ferrari 620 with over 600 horse power. That was an amazing car. The $100,000 and 250 horse power Tesla makes the same 0-60 mph (about 4 seconds) and handles as well as the three times more expensive Ferrari. On top of this, the Tesla is completely silent! The engineers at Tesla Motors have made a marvelous work on making the Tesla silent. It was an awesome experience to get shot out of silent cannon down the strip! (The fantastic Arai Corsair helmet from Riders Discount made it even better). If somebody made me choose between a brand new million dollar Ferrari and a Tesla – the choice would be easy! There is no more amazing car than the Tesla on this planet! The Tesla Roadster is now also available in the Sport model that has a little more horse power. The Tesla is definitely a piece of history! If I had the money, I would be standing in the line with all the Hollywood stars waiting to get my own…
Thanks Dave for the ride of my life! Hope to see you and your yellow beauty soon again!
Scotty beat the Tesla factory drivers!
I wasn’t the only one having a wonderful Tesla time at Portland International Raceway. Scotty Pollacheck, the rider of KillaCycle, set a new world record in the very first Tesla Roadster Sport that was delivered to customer. With the time 12.645 seconds @102.89 mph he beat Tesla Motors’ own factory drivers! Scotty is an awesome rider and driver, and that is why he rides the KillaCycle. He also has the size of a jockey, which definitely doesn’t hurt on the drag strip.
Scotty also drove Dave Denhart’s yellow Tesla, and he beat me with 0.03 seconds. Taken into consideration that it was my very first time on the drag strip, I feel that it was a pretty good achievement from my side.
See you at Bandimere September 27!
Bill and I are hosting the year’s fastest NEDRA event at Bandimere Speedway September 27. Bandimere is documented as the stickiest track on the planet. The first 250 first ft is temperature controlled for maximum traction and the all-concrete track is flat as a pool table. It is also the track in the nation at the highest altitude, which means significantly less air to push out of the way. The air resistance is about 20 % less than at sea level. The present world record for electrics was set at Bandimere by KillaCycle.
If you want to set a record – this is the event to come to! It is a mixed event with gas guzzlers too, so there will be many opportunities to kick ass. There will also be bracket racing for those who really want to compete.
See you there!
// Eva - the EV Princess
More picures and stories from the Portland event at the Tesla owners club http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/news-articles-events/2381-wayland-invitational-iv-electric-drag-races-4.html
YouTube - Scotty Pollacheck sets a new world record of 12.64 seconds in a 2010 Tesla Roadster Sport http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7P8pjHpgM
YouTube - Scotty Pollacheck backs up his new world record of 12.64 seconds with a 12.71 back up run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBrGXdgKCKQ
Second Annual Clean Energy Summit Convenes at UNLV on August 10th
U.S. Senator Harry Reid announced that the University of Nevada-Las Vegas will once again be the host for a national Clean Energy Summit beginning on August 10th from 10 AM to 5:30 PM in the Cox Pavilion. Dubbed Clean Energy Summit 2.0, the web site for this event is at: http://www.cleanenergysummit.org
The agenda for this year’s conference can be found at: http://www.cleanenergysummit.org/2009_agenda.html
Former U.S. Vice-President and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore will be a keynote speaker for the conference that will also include Department of Energy Secretary, Dr. Steven Chu, energy executive T. Boone Pickens, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, U.S. House of Representatives Congressman Tim Wirth (D-Colorado), Special Advisor Van Jones to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Dow-Corning CEO Stephanie Burns, Bright Source Energy CEO John Woolard, American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode, NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira, Nevada State AFL-CIO Director Danny Thompson, solar power lobbyist Rose McKinney-James, and other invited guests who will “chart a course for our nation’s clean energy future”.
The conference is once again being organized by John Podesta from the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Podesta was a former White House Chief of Staff under former president Bill Clinton, as well as head of the White House transition team under President Barack Obama. He has written
After introductory remarks by Senator Harry Reid and an opening keynote address by Al Gore, the current summit agenda will feature a series of moderated roundtable discussions by participant speakers from 10 AM to 12:30 PM, when the conference will break for lunch.
A Clean-energy policy community town hall discussion will commence from 2 PM to 3:30 PM. It will be moderated by John Podesta, who will field questions from the audience directed to former Vice-President Al Gore, Senator Harry Reid, and T. Boone Pickens.
Closing remarks by Senator Harry Reid and John Podesta will conclude Clean Energy Summit 2.0 from 3:30 PM to 4:45 PM.
Last year’s Clean Energy Summit at the UNLV Cox Pavilion began on August 18th, during the height of the 2008 election year campaign. It was memorable in that many of the 750 attendees are now actively running the U.S. government’s energy policies and transportation programs as well as realigning energy policies within the state of Nevada. 2008 attendees included former President Bill Clinton who delivered a keynote speech challenging Nevada to “rock the world” by developing an economy based on clean renewable energies within the state. Other notables included Dr. Steven Chu, then head of Lawrence Berkeley National Labs; governors Janet Napolitano from Arizona, Jon Huntsman from Utah and Bill Ritter from Colorado; mayor Michael Bloomberg from New York City; energy entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens; General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt; Former Undersecretary of Energy Dan Reicher and former Secretary of Treasury Robert Rubin. Video highlights from the 2008 event are archived at:
http://www.cleanenergysummit.org/video/video.html
Local state energy activists at the 2008 Clean Energy Summit included former Republican State Senator Randolph Townsend, State Senator Dina Titus who later won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, solar power lobbyist Rose McKinney-James, MGM-Mirage CEO Jim Murren, Danny Thompson of the Nevada state AFL/CIO, John Wellinghoff from the Federal Energy Regulation Commission who started his career as Nevada’s first public utilities consumer advocate, and Sierra Pacific Resources CEO Michael Yackira.
After the Clean Energy Summit in August 2008, Yackira merged the two state utilities, Sierra Pacific Power in the north and Nevada Power in the south, into one statewide utility called NV Energy. The company then pushed ahead plans to build a 235-mile electric power transmission line that would close a gap separating the northern and southern electric power providers. $500 million has been set aside to complete the One Nevada Line or ONLine that will eventually carry 2,000 Megawatts of electricity between northern and southern Nevada, enough electric power to sustain 1,500,000 homes. In 2009, NV Energy also suspended plans to build two coal-fired power plants within the state of Nevada and shifted focus to promote the use of renewable energy resources and conservation.
LVEVA DVD Reference Library
The LVEVA maintains a growing library of DVD reference videos that are available to its members that can be borrowed for one month at a time. Bill Kuehl, LVEVA Secretary/Treasurer is also the LVEVA video librarian. He can be contacted to pick up and return these videos at each monthly chapter meeting. The current list of videos that are available for a one month rental are:
1. “Who Killed the Elecric Car” Documentary
2. Plug in Partners National Campaign (2006)
3. EAA Silicon Valley CalCars PHEV Technology Overview (2005)
4. Boulder City Christmas Parade Highlights (2006)
5. Convert Your Pickup to Electric (DIY Video by GrassrootsEV)
Note: This video can be copied to viewer’s hard disk to keep!
6. Tom Gage of AC Propulsion speaks at EAA Silicon Valley (2005)
7. Monster Garage EV conversion (Jesse James)
and John Wayland White Zombie Videos (2006)
8. Electric Avenue by George Gladic Fox Valley EAA Chapter 2006.
9. Bruce Katz of Polyplus Battery Company speaks at EAASV (2005)
EV Repairs and Service
Western Petroleum Station
2051 E. Sahara (corner of Eastern Avenue and Sahara)
Las Vegas, NV 89104
Contact: Jim Johnson
Telephone: (702) 457-2675
Web site: http://storefront.dexonline.com/jims-texaco
Precision EV Components Machining Support
Real Products, LLC
3433 Neeham Road #2
North Las Vegas, NV 89030
Contact: Eric Tschabold
Tel: (702) 644-1165
Email: energyz@cox.net
EV Parts and Kits for Sale:
GrassrootsEV.com
Las Vegas Office
Address: 5225 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89118
“Electric Vehicles and Everything for Them”
Contact: Jon Hallquist
Tel: (702) 277-7544
Email: jon@grassrootsev.com
Web site: http://www.grassrootsev.com
OKA NEV ZEV Parts and Kits for Sale: www.okaauto.com
OKA NEV ZEV KIT cars in stock now for immediate delivery prices start at $5,000 FOB Las Vegas. We also have 4844 ALLTRAX Controllers(48V 400 A DC for Series motor) in stock (more than we need) $550 list, $375.00 NET.
Contact: Miro Kefurt
OKA AUTO USA : www.okaauto.com
Distributor: MIROX Corporation
5015 W. Sahara Ave. #125-130
Las Vegas, Nevada 89146
USA
Tel: (702) 683-8292
E-mail: okaauto@aol.com
The Free Energy Store
300 West Utah, Suite 101
Las Vegas, NV 89102
Tel: (702) 320-0770
Fax: (702) 320-0270
Web site: http://www.freeenergystore.com
Contact: Russ Lord
Email: russ@freeenergystore.com
For Sale: Chrome "Electric" Emblems for EV's
Mike Chancey - Posted 06/25/00
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Checked: 07/13/03
Chrome "Electric" car emblems, just like the OEM factory lettering. Okay, so you own a beautiful electric vehicle, but does the world know? Show them with these profession quality "ELECTRIC" emblems. Fabricated from weather resistant thermoplastic, these signs feature a bright chrome like finish on the letter faces with a subtle matte black background. They mount easily with the self adhesive HighTack backing. Simply peel off the protective cover, and press the sign into place. Each sign is approximately 1.25" in height and 7" in length. Only $6.00 each or four for $20.00, plus $1.75 shipping and handling per order. Discounts for larger orders available. Send check or money order to:
Mike Chancey, 1700 East 80th Street, Kansas City, MO 64131, or order online.
EVs For Sale:
For Sale: RedStreak Electric Two-wheel Scooter with Bicycle Seat– New
Color: Silver
Asking Price: $200
Contact: Jean Norton
Tel: (702) 301-0979
For Sale: Electrans 3-wheel Futurista ETV
Net Weight: 1180 lbs.
Loaded Weight: 1765 lbs.
Max Speed: 55 MPH
Range: 110 Miles
Battery Pack: Lithium Iron Phosphate
Turning Radius: 18 ft 4 inches
Working Voltage: 60 Volts DC
Seats: 2
Recharge Time: Only 4 1/2 hours at 110 VAC
Department of Transportation (DOT) approval to license this vehicle through the DMV
Contact: Bob MacNamara
ElecTrans
Tel: (702) 927-8838
Web site: www.futurista.biz
For Sale: Electric 1985 Pontiac “Fiero” --Record-Holding Race Car
This 1985 Pontiac “Fiero” Conversion currently holds four National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) Class Records.
1. Class MC/F (Modified Conversion 97-120 volts)
2. Class MC/E (Modified Conversion 121-144 volts)
3. Class MC/D (Modified Conversion 145-168 volts)
4. Class MC/C (Modified Conversion 169-192 volts)
The 1985 Pontiac Fiero has been converted with:
1. A new Netgain Warp-9 Electric DC Motor coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission.
2. A DCP T-REX 1000 Water-cooled Controller with an Input Voltage Range of 96 to 336 Volts
and Motor Current Rating at 1000 Amps.
3. The Battery System is at 192 Volts. The battery pack consists of sixteen 12-volt sealed ODYSSEY PC-680 batteries with the capability of increasing battery pack capacity and voltages to compete in the NEDRA MC/B Class (Modified Conversion 193-240 volts) or to a maximum capacity of 336-volts to compete in the MC/A Class (Modified Conversion 241 volts and higher).
4. Tires are B.F. Goodrich G-Force T/A Drag Radials P215/60 R14 that connect the Electric Motor torque to the road for “no slip” acceleration.
5. Battery Charger is a 120- to 240-volt Variable Transformer with a heavy-duty full bridge rectifier. Additional cables and connectors are installed for Dump Charging from a DC battery pack.
Asking Price: $10,000 or Best Offer.
Contact: William Kuehl
Address: 4504 W. Alexander Road, North Las Vegas, Nevada 89032
Telephone: 702-636-0304
For Sale: 1995 Geo Metro Conversion Electric Car
Body Configuration: 2-door
Color: Red
Battery Pack: 72-Volt System using Nine 8-Volt Lead Acid Golf Cart Batteries
Range: 35 mile range
Top Speed: 70 mph
Onboard 72-Volt Charger
2-year-old conversion from Ogden, Utah
Price: $8,000
Contact: Jean Norton
Tel: (702) 301-0979
