Back in the fall of 2006 when I was first founding Bucks County Renewables, I went down to the Philadelphia Free Library to attend an (also free) conference on "How to Start Your Own Nonprofit." This past Saturday, I returned to the very same auditorium I was sitting in four and a half years ago. This time, I was standing on the stage with a clicker in my hand, giving a slideshow on the History and Advantages of Electric Vehicles. THAT WAS VERY COOL FOLKS!
My talk kicked off a whole morning devoted to discussion of electric vehicle conversion, batteries and chargers at the Nikola Tesla Society/American Society of Inventors Green Technology Conference. At the end of it Jeff Maday, who put a lot of work into organizing a wonderfully smooth conference (thanks again, Jeff!) presented me with this membership plaque. The membership expires on December 21, 2012, and if I get transpersonalized on that date I will count being recognized for service to the legacy of Nikola Tesla as one of my sweet human-life achievements, that's for sure.
Here is a cool thing that was posted at the conference, click on the photo to read the text it's pretty awesome, and so is this cartoon I found while looking for the text online. Signe Wilkerson is a Quaker and the 1991 Dodge Colt that Started it All (click on "the consumer's guide to the electric car" movie if you don't know what I'm talking about) was owned and driven by a Quaker couple, so cartoons about energy independence are obviously pretty directly related to EV's. On this blog, anyway.
Then just yesterday I rendezvoused with Brandon Hollinger and our intern Adam Khorshid at the Green Jobs Academy and they got to unpack the batteries! So we finally unwrapped our Christmas present from Elite Power Solutions and LOOK EVERYBODY OUR NEW, USED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES ARE TEAL AND PURPLE! Adam is majoring in industrial design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and his senior internship project will be helping to create a user-friendly Mazda Miata Conversion Manual -- a very exciting project for all of us.
Brandon was shocked to discover that I do not know anything about how to measure battery voltage :-( I guess this is a pretty notable skill-lack in someone who runs EV workshops, maybe I will learn at the March 26 seminar. So Brandon and Adam checked up on and fondled the batteries, while I met with Chris Gillespie of Bucks County Community College. Final pricing for the 6-day hands-on workshop, which we want to keep as affordable as possible, should be forthcoming soon and then registration can open!
Adam, Brandon, and I then went to Lehigh Valley Green Drinks for post-meeting processing, drinks and dinner. Green Drinks is a global phenomenon but not every chapter is lucky enough to have their meetings in a local-friendly, very green microbrewery like the Allentown Brewworks which you should check out even if you cannot nake it to Green Drinks on 2nd Wednesdays. In February I heard the very cool founder and co-owner of the Brewworks, Rich Fegley, present on his committed, persistent efforts to make the restaurant business sustainable. We at Bucks County Renewables believe that more Bucks Countians (like the folks from Doylestown and Point Pleasant I talked to last night, yay them!) should travel up to Allentown to taste the great premise-brewed beer and sample the increasingly locally-supplied menu. Fill out your comment card and let them know how you like your meal (Rich loves that). Of course plugging Green Drinks is related to EV's because I am going to be talking there in June and let us not forget there are $1 flagship beers from 5:30 - 6:30 because that is important. This is very good beer, folks.
As we were saying goodbye Brandon gave me this bumpersticker that he designed, which made me jump up and down on the sidewalk and scream with happiness. Best slogan ever!
My talk kicked off a whole morning devoted to discussion of electric vehicle conversion, batteries and chargers at the Nikola Tesla Society/American Society of Inventors Green Technology Conference. At the end of it Jeff Maday, who put a lot of work into organizing a wonderfully smooth conference (thanks again, Jeff!) presented me with this membership plaque. The membership expires on December 21, 2012, and if I get transpersonalized on that date I will count being recognized for service to the legacy of Nikola Tesla as one of my sweet human-life achievements, that's for sure.
Here is a cool thing that was posted at the conference, click on the photo to read the text it's pretty awesome, and so is this cartoon I found while looking for the text online. Signe Wilkerson is a Quaker and the 1991 Dodge Colt that Started it All (click on "the consumer's guide to the electric car" movie if you don't know what I'm talking about) was owned and driven by a Quaker couple, so cartoons about energy independence are obviously pretty directly related to EV's. On this blog, anyway.
Then just yesterday I rendezvoused with Brandon Hollinger and our intern Adam Khorshid at the Green Jobs Academy and they got to unpack the batteries! So we finally unwrapped our Christmas present from Elite Power Solutions and LOOK EVERYBODY OUR NEW, USED LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES ARE TEAL AND PURPLE! Adam is majoring in industrial design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and his senior internship project will be helping to create a user-friendly Mazda Miata Conversion Manual -- a very exciting project for all of us.
Brandon was shocked to discover that I do not know anything about how to measure battery voltage :-( I guess this is a pretty notable skill-lack in someone who runs EV workshops, maybe I will learn at the March 26 seminar. So Brandon and Adam checked up on and fondled the batteries, while I met with Chris Gillespie of Bucks County Community College. Final pricing for the 6-day hands-on workshop, which we want to keep as affordable as possible, should be forthcoming soon and then registration can open! Adam, Brandon, and I then went to Lehigh Valley Green Drinks for post-meeting processing, drinks and dinner. Green Drinks is a global phenomenon but not every chapter is lucky enough to have their meetings in a local-friendly, very green microbrewery like the Allentown Brewworks which you should check out even if you cannot nake it to Green Drinks on 2nd Wednesdays. In February I heard the very cool founder and co-owner of the Brewworks, Rich Fegley, present on his committed, persistent efforts to make the restaurant business sustainable. We at Bucks County Renewables believe that more Bucks Countians (like the folks from Doylestown and Point Pleasant I talked to last night, yay them!) should travel up to Allentown to taste the great premise-brewed beer and sample the increasingly locally-supplied menu. Fill out your comment card and let them know how you like your meal (Rich loves that). Of course plugging Green Drinks is related to EV's because I am going to be talking there in June and let us not forget there are $1 flagship beers from 5:30 - 6:30 because that is important. This is very good beer, folks.
As we were saying goodbye Brandon gave me this bumpersticker that he designed, which made me jump up and down on the sidewalk and scream with happiness. Best slogan ever!
I don't think Brandon knows that in its pre-electric days my Vanagon sported this sticker:
Brandon also gave Bucks County Renewables and the Green Jobs Academy another kind of present on Wednesday, because our workshops were mentioned in this terrific profile of him on the front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer's business section. Aaarrrghh there is a typo in the online headline, excuse me Inquirer editors? You should take "electifying" out of your spellchecker! But I thought the article was great. Scott Sturgis was super-professional and fun to talk to and I hope he will come back around and write some more about all the amazing stuff that is going on right now.
EV News Round-up got nudged back because So Much Is Happening but I'll catch up and post this weekend!
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