2009 EV CONVERSION WORKSHOP

Folks, it's official. The 2009 EV Conversion Workshop, funded by an Environmental Education grant from the Pennsylvania DEP, will take place June 22 - 26, 2009 -- but I can't tell you where because that bit isn't official yet! Hint: it will be geographically convenient, and we hope identical, to the site in 2007.

Even though I can't open registration until we're confirmed in our anticipated location, I do want to let anyone who's interested know to email a request to info at buckscountyrenewables dot com if you want registration information as soon as it comes out. There will be a mass mailing in mid-January to educators and environmentalists all over southern PA and I'll also post to EV sites like the new EV Wiki started by the St. Mark's EV Club up in Massachusetts. The EV Club at St. Mark's brought their solar-and-wind-powered Ford Ranger conversion "Woodstock" to the 21st Century Automotive Competitions in 2007 & 2008 sponsored by the Eastern Electric Vehicle Club and were long-time participants in the Tour de Sol previous to this. Speaking of the 21st Century Automotive Challenge, great news: it has found a new home in State College, PA, and is coming up this spring!

It looks like 2009 will be an active year for EV's locally -- I even hear a rumor that there will be a rally/gathering in Macungie in May, for which we plan to get the van charged up and rolling! While it hibernates we're driving the hybrid Highlander (21-22 mpg in the cold) and the ten-year-old Honda Civic, which dipped to below 40 mpg recently. We thought it might be the cold, but then realized the percentage drop was too high to explain the decline. Guess what it turned out to be -- a deflated tire. They are Not Kidding about the effect on mileage of running below optimal inflation. Check your tires (and back up your computer data while you're at it, if you're not the kind of person who checks your tires and backs up your data regularly!)

In other news, here's a link I liked about miles per gallon -- a topic on which I myself had been planning a blog entry, but Sebastian got there first -- and another Autobloggreen article reporting how ethanol measures up against other alternative fuels.