On Wednesday, June 12t, the Davis Electric Vehicle Association (DEVA) met online. Topics covered included whether one should consider an electric vehicle (EV) or charger first, new EV models, an EV market update, and an EV workforce development update. You can find the June meeting recording here on the DEVA Playlist at Cool Davis #LiveCoolDavis YouTube site!

The next DEVA member meeting will be held in person August 14 6:00pm to 7:30pm at Ohm Electric Cars in Dixon.

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June 12 – DEVA Meeting Highlights

EV Market Update – Guy Hall

Guy Hall, the Sacramento Electric Vehicle Association (SacEV) Director and Strategist presented information pertaining to the current EV market and EV chargers.  Guy began his presentation with an observation from Cox Automotive about how increased exposure to EVs opens the door to higher consideration of adoption of one. He goes on to mention the supposed “doom and gloom” of EV sales but counters with data (seen below) outlining quarterly global EV sales over the last several years: “The growth rate of sales is slowing down but the number of sales is still accelerating”.

Hall outlines the growth of EV sales by brand; Ford and Toyota lead the pack. He also mentions that Cox Automotive forecasts 2024 EV sales to be the best ever – growing to ~10% of overall national auto sales. Following up with previous observations, Hall displays a graph (seen below) illustrating how 300-mile range EVs now cost less than the average new car. Lastly, charging infrastructure will be bolstered with a new $1.9 billion plan to deploy 40,000 new public EV chargers statewide. However, due to EV charger vandalism, a redesigned EV charger is in development that implements an owner provided cable; a standard currently used in Europe. With prices decreasing, global sales growth, and charging infrastructure continuously developing, the EV market is becoming more accessible for the average consumer.

Guy Hall, a global technologist with 29 years of R&D and Leadership with Hewlett Packard (in Germany, Canada, Slovenia, Russia, India, China, Costa Rica, Hungary, France), became interested in EVs in 2010 as a solution to our environmental, economic and security challenges. He expanded the SacEV membership 5x, and as president, established SacEV as the regional leader for EV knowledge, events and activities.

EV Workforce Development – Ash Dalal

Ash Dalal, mechanical engineer and founder of Ohm Electric Cars presented information on his current EV conversion projects and EV workforce development. Dalal began his presentation explaining the process by which software like MATLAB and Simulink are used to more efficiently model and design EV conversions and EV solutions in compliance with automotive standards. The first conversion project Dalal displays is a 1966 Volkswagen Bug (seen below) which sports a 300 horsepower permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM); ten times the power of the original motor. “Permanent magnet synchronous motors have high power density, stable output torque, low noise, and good speed regulation performance, making them very suitable for electric vehicle propulsion.”(source).

Another EV conversion shown was a 1964 Chevrolet Impala Lowrider that also uses a 300 horsepower PMSM motor. This project supports the CTE technical education pathway for SAVA, a vocational training school in Sacramento.

Dalal wraps up his presentation with the state of EV workforce development. The California Mobility Center is currently developing curriculum to support the community. There is a new Sacramento based company named Charger Help which focuses on EV maintenance of which Dalal will be teaching curriculum for employee training. These efforts support the 2035 grid resiliency project; be on the lookout for further updates!

Well before the current demand, Ash focused his entire engineering career to the hybridization and electrification engineering in passenger automotive, defense, public utility and off-highway markets. Ash has developed, tested, and supported many different applications of HEV/EV technology, including outreach in automotive mathematics and EV training at local community colleges and schools, as well as local EV groups.

The DEVA leadership planning meeting is held monthly on the third Monday; our next meeting is July 15 at 5:30 p.m. We invite you to attend and lend your thoughts! To participate, contact us at deva@cooldavis.org.

We’ve confirmed a venue for the next DEVA member meeting set for August 14  (held bi-monthly on the second Wednesday). We’re open to holding meetings at various locations, especially if the location features EV infrastructure.

Interested in attending or hosting? Contact us at deva@cooldavis.org for further inquiry!

Your DEVA Leadership Team

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