Next meeting June 25th 2011, 11am to 1pm

See Summary of privious meetings

Directions to the Central Coast meeting location:

Community Foundation is located just south of State Park on 7807 Soquel Dr., Aptos, across the street from the Safeway in Aptos

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See Summary of privious meetings

Past Meeting Summary

October 24, 2009

Central Coast Electric Automobile Association Meeting

 Saturday, October 24 at the Santa Cruz Montessori School

Speaker Kelly Erin O'Brien, host of "Life in the Fast Lane" and "Talk of the Bay" on KUSP discussed miles per gallon myths and facts. 

Kelly spoke about the importance of understanding what “mileage” really means for all cars, but especially related to the additional variables in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

-     She referenced a study done by Auto Express using a Nissan Altima going at average 30.5 miles speed on an 8-mile track. They compared the mileage of the vehicle, going the same speed, with a number of adaptations, such as adding a roof rack, keeping the windows open, dropping the tire pressure and with air conditioning running.

o     Of these the biggest drop in mileage was with air conditioning: a decrease of 8% to 28 mpg.

-     However, the very largest mileage decrease resulted from increased speed.

o     Driving at 60-70mph decreased the mileage 19%

o     Driving at 80 mph saw a decrease of 24%

-     On average, traveling 75 mph versus 55 mph results in a loss of 22.2% in miles per gallon. Speed is a huge penalty!

The group discussed the feedback mechanism in some electric and hybrid vehicles that shows real-time driving efficiency and how this feature could help all drivers achieve better mileage.

Kelly referenced a 2001 National Household Travel Survey by the National Highway  Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) http://nhts.ornl.gov/

-     Miles driven daily was within a range of 12.2 – 37.6 miles

-     25% of the trips were employment related.

Kelly addressed her major point about how inaccurate – both perceived and real -  is the U.S. EPA listing for vehicle mileage on car stickers.  Over the past few years, the EPA reduced the EPA mileage (and thus emissions) so it is now 20% less than it was before the changes.

-     A second federal agency, NHTSA, determines Corporate Average Fuel Economy which means that the automakers get a 20% “pass” on C02 emissions.

When evaluating “mileage” for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the issue becomes more complicated because there is a difference in mileage in the same vehicle between fully charged and the depletion mode.  For example:

-     For parallel hybrids (Prius) where the electric motor and gasoline supplement each other: 

o     Fully charged = 90 mpg; depleted mode: 46 mpg.

o     On 100 mile trip, miles per gallon = 75.9

NOTE:  I did not get the details on the Volt, series hybrid, mileage Kelly explained.

Other announcements:

Jay Friedland -

•     Nissan will host a number of events in key U.S. markets in the next few months  to showcase their Leaf electric car coming to selected markets in 2010.  The San Jose event is planned for December 3-6.

Prius Hybrid conversions to plug-in hybrid:

•     Discussion about conversions centered around:

o     San Franciso based conversion companies: Pat’s Garage (who converted Kelly O’Brien’s Prius) and Luscious Garage (who recently converted Brion Sprinsock’s Prius.

o     California Energy Commission is expected to announce funding for conversions in the next few weeks.

Kelly O’Brien and other owners discussed their electric and plug-in hybrid conversions outside after the meeting. 

the group also posed for a photo for the International Day of Climate Action sponsored by 350.org. 

June 10th, 2006

We had a really good turn out for the first meeting. There were 10 people in attendance and all agreed that a chapter in the Central Coast would be a great idea. Jay Friedland was elected president, Will Beckett is VP and treasurer. Jay is looking for a meeting location that is free and will offer better options for speakers to come an visit. After the meeting we all went out and looked over the four electrics vehicles and one bike that came to the meeting. Looking forward to the next meeting.