The ATC is for Electric Car & Vehicle enthusiasts in Reno / Sparks, Washoe County and surrounding areas. We are a chapter of the Electric Auto Association whose mission, in part, is "to act as a public source of information about electric vehicle technology, to encourage experimentation in the building of electric vehicles, and to organize public exhibits and events of electric vehicles to educate the public on the progress and benefits of electric vehicle technology."
The ATC is also involved with urban planning that promotes equitable smart-growth policies which include efficient walkable / bikeable communities augmented with clean public transportation options and greenspaces. To that end we are actively developing initiatives that accelerate deployment of distributed renewable energy generation capacity with a focus on "smart-garage" implementation where buildings, transportation, and the electric grid come together forming a synergistic relationship that enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and mitigates climate changing greenhouse gas emissions.
And, of course, your donations help us achieve our goals!
~ Quick Links! ~
We're on Facebook! Join the Alternative Transportation Club on Facebook!
You can follow ATC co-chair, Bob Tregilus, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BobTregilus
~ Advertisements ~
(This space is offered free of charge by the members of the ATC / EAA.)
Support organizations and businesses that promote sustainable practices in Northern Nevada!
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 RTC RIDESHARE is a web-based service that makes carpool matching easy, fast, convenient, and accurate. Enter your traveling preferences and receive the best potential carpool matches back in a matter of seconds. You can also look for bicycle riding companions. |
 For a variety of electric bicycles please consider our friends at Bicycle Bananas, 2005 Sierra Highlands Dr. #115 in Reno. For more information call Dan or Mike at 775.747.1413. |
~ Next Meeting ~
(Everyone is welcome to attend ATC meetings. You don't have to own an EV. The only requirement is an interest in sustainable transportation options such as gas-hybrids, EVs, scooters, and bicycles. No membership required and these are no pressure meetings. We don't pass the hat for donations.)
Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, July 23, from 6:00-7:30 at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility, 8500 Clean Water Way, Reno, NV (click HERE for a map AND click HERE for an aerial photo of the meeting room location).
Clean Water Way is just north of Mill Street off S. McCarren Blvd. You enter Clean Water Way at the UNR Farm (Nevada Agricultural Experiment Station) entrance and go all the way to the end (2.5 miles) where you arrive at the plant location. Continue forward (North) through the plant toward the Truckee River, curve to the right, past the two story warehouse where you'll see a double-wide trailer East of the warehouse (you made it!).
This month's topic will include a review of the recent "Opportunities in Grid Connected Mobility" conference last May and possibly a review of a recent battery technology conference from June as well. A open roundtable discussion will follow on whatever topic club members wish to discuss.
Sign up for the monthly ATC eNewsletter <HERE>
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~ EVents! ~
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~ Sat & Sun, July 11-12th, 9-5:00pm, Boatworks Mall, Tahoe City, CA ~
Join the Sierra Green Builder's Association (SiGBA) for the Tahoe greenFEST in beautiful Tahoe City on the northshore of Lake Tahoe!
The Alternative Transportation Club & Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada will have a booth - next to . . . drum roll please . . . the Tesla Motors booth! There will definitely be one Tesla Roadster on display, likely two, and possibly three. Because Tahoe City is on the I-80 corridor charging infrastructure http://www.evchargermaps.com we are inviting Bay Area and Central Valley EV owners to join us. Already an OEM Toyota RAV4 EV will be on display. A fellow from Northern California may be driving his lithium powered Corbin Sparrow to the event. Keith's Kars will be on hand with Zap Xebras as will Dr. Paul Guttman with his line of EV bikes and scooters for sale which benefit Space Science education in our schools.
Other activities include live music, raffles, beer & wine tasting, organic food, kayaking, shopping, and more!
Suggested donations are $10 individuals, $20 for families, but everyone is invited to attend as a SiGBA guest.
If you can bring your xEV to this event please complete this form or call Bob 775 826-4514 for more details.
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~ Tuesday, July 28th, (time TBA), Element Hotel, Las Vegas, NV ~
The Renew America Roadtrip (RAR) arrives in Las Vegas on July 28th. The Renew America Roadtrip is America’s first green charity drive coast-to-coast in an all-electric OEM Tesla Roadster sportscar.
Folks, this is a first, and in the time honored spirit of the great adventurers who push the physical and technological envelope, Michael Craner of New York City is driving his battery electric Tesla Roadster from the east coast to the west, through Las Vegas and on to Los Angeles and San Francisco during the in the latter half of July. The two Electric Auto Association chapters in Reno (that's us!) and Las Vegas are helping to organize the Las Vegas leg of the trip. The stop in Las Vegas will be a major media event which we hope includes representatives from NV Energy as well as federal, state, and local leaders.
Can you bring an EV to the event? Do you know any federal, state, or local officials that may like to be involved in the event? Call Bob 775 826-4514 for more details.
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~ Saturday, August 1st, time (TBA), West Street Market, Reno, NV ~
Join the Alternative Transportation Club and Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada for our annual Hot 'Electric Cars' Night at the West Street Market in downtown Reno!
The purpose of this annual event is to highlight the future of transportation as 15,000 classic cars swarm into Northern Nevada along with 750,000 visitors to celebrate '50s, '60s, & '70s car culture at Hot August Nights.
This year is a very special event as the Renew America Roadtrip Tesla Roadster, after an epic journey across the entire nation - a first in an all electric production vehicle, will be on display prior to going on auction for charity. We'll likely have a second Roadster on display as well along with club member cars, motorcycles, scooters, and bikes.
Please check back soon as this event is under construction and dates/time/location may change.
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Sign up for the monthly ATC eNewsletter <HERE>
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~ Club Photos & Member's Cars ~
| ATC Patriarch
& Burner Bill Brinsmead's fleet: 1973 Custom Trike Little Boy 1992 GMC G-Van 1992 Toyota MR-2 1994 Chevrolet S-10 1996 APS Bus |
ATC Co-Chair, Chuck Swackhammer: 1969 Subaru 360 Star 2006 Pantara Freedom 2006 Zap Xebra PK |
ATC Treasurer, Peter Fletcher: 1993 Solectria Force Peter's EV YouTube videos includes Jerry Asher's Plug-in Prius |
ATC Co-chair, Bob Tregilus: 1976 Kawasaki KZ400 Pictures from PIA's CARB ZEV Rally that Bob attended March ('08) |
| Fallon
Resident, Mike Krumpe: Schwinn Frontier MTN |
ATC member, Tod Colegrove: 1959 MGA Roadster |
Reno Burner, Dale Huntsman: Big Giant Head |
ATC member, Glee Willis: 2003 eGO Cycle 2LX |
| Pictures
of a restored EV-1 that was in Reno winter of '07. |
ATC member, Mick Delaney: 2004 Catrike Road |
Jerry Asher
and his Spirit of DC - PHEV3A plug-in electric Prius taking a break in Reno from his 48 state tour. |
ATC member, Neal Peters: 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit 1990 Honda CT90 |
| Your name & EV here! | ATC member, Kirk White: 1990 Chevrolet S-10 |
ATC Member, John Sagebiel: 2007 Optibike 600t & 2008 Optibike 800Li - Custom |
Stinkers will be stinkers. Here's a big one blocking not one but two EV charging stations. |
More pictures coming soon! Do you live in northern Nevada and own an EV? Post it at the Electric Vehicle Photo Album, send us the link, and we'll post it here!
Looking for an EV charge bar in Northern Nevada? The first public EV charging stations were installed at Truckee Meadows Community College in the winter of 2008. Follow this link for a map and these links: 1 2 3 for pictures!
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~ KEEP IN TOUCH! ~
Sign up for the monthly ATC eNewsletter <HERE>
Join the ATC discussion listserv where you can post news articles and discuss current EVents <HERE>
Or join a very large national electric vehicle listserv <HERE>
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~ Renewable Energy Payments Initiative ~
BREAKING NEWS! 5/28/09 - Vermont becomes the first state to pass a comprehensive renewable energy payments law - follow this link for the details!
Renewable. It's Doable!
Thank you! for your interest in feed-in laws which create renewable energy payments or REPs (also known as feed-in tariffs or FITs in Europe). REPs are time-tested as the worlds most cost effective and equitable policy tool for accelerating deployment of distributed renewable energy (RE) generation and clean-tech jobs at no cost to government and negligible cost to the consumer. Electric vehicle enthusiasts are interested in RE because we not only like running our cars on electricity, but we'd prefer that electricity was generated from renewable resources such as the sun, wind, geothermal, hydro, and biogas.
A REPs program obliges energy companies to purchase RE from any producer and sets the price which these companies pay per unit of electricity. By guaranteeing access to the grid and setting a favorable price per unit of power, REPs ensure that RE is a sound long-term investment - for companies, for industry, and for individuals - thereby creating a strong economic incentive for investing in renewables. For quick primer on REPs CLICK HERE and another primer / legislative summary for our proposed draft feed-in law (see below) is HERE.
Here are some suggested websites to learn more about REPs: http://allianceforrenewableenergy.org | http://wind-works.org/articles/feed_laws.html | http://onlinepact.org
To accomplish the goal of adopting a REPs program in Nevada - which will stimulate investment and job creation in renewable energy - the Alternative Transportation Club & Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada (ATC/EAA) has drafted a resolution for use as a tool to build a broad spectrum coalition to support adoption of a feed-in law, that will create a REPs program in Nevada.
But first, we need a core group of interested organizations and individuals to finalize both the draft REPs resolution as well as the draft REPs law. Once that task is complete we will be ready to move forward and build support for the adoption of a REPs program in Nevada by 2011, or perhaps earlier.
Thank you for your interest and please don't hesitate to contact me for further information.
Sincerely,
Bob Tregilus, co-chair, ATC / EAA
Voice: (775) 826-4514 | Email: lakeport104@yahoo.com
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~ LEARN MORE ~
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The Electric Vehicle Calculator
ATC member tomofreno discussed the physics and engineering considerations for electric transportation at our March 2009 meeting.
He has developed a wonderful spreadsheet - an electric vehicle calculator - that will help determine speed and range projections for various vehicles based on a number of variables such as battery chemistry, weight, and aerodynamics.
You can download the EV calculator HERE. Please send feedback, suggestions for improvement, or questions to tomofreno at: tomofreno2000[AT]yahoo.com.
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~ For General Information on EVs . . . ~
Visit the Electric Auto Association website for more information about EVs and how to buy or convert to an electric - Zero Emissions Gas Free - vehicle!
Also, be sure to visit Plug-in America at http://pluginamerica.com. And don't miss PIA's Plug-in Vehicle Tracker: What's Coming and When.
Are you looking for a place to charge your EV? Then checkout the EV Charger Maps at http://www.evchargermaps.com. Do you know of a place to charge an EV that isn't on the map then email Tom at tom[AT]tomdowling.net and tell him about it.
See a vast array of EV conversions, purpose built, OEM, and art cars at the world famous EV Photo Album! It's a great place to start your research before beginning your own EV conversion project.
Check out the EV FAQs & Myths page at Plug-in America! Debunks the longer tail-pipe EV (moving pollution to the power plant) and battery pollution myths. And checkout the ATC eNewsletter volume 2, number 4 for additional information on EV scams, EV water consumption myth, drilling for oil, and running your car on water.
There's a great book out called, Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars That Will Recharge America by Sherry Boschert, vice-president of Plug In America.
And learn about how plugging in your car can actually earn you money! No kidding: the electric companies will pay you for plugging in your car! It's called Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology. And there's a new book called V2G 101, highly recommended!
"The long-term case for V2G boils down to a choice. We can keep the electric system and vehicle fleet separate, in which case we substantially increase the cost of renewable energy because we have to build storage to match intermittent capacity. Or, we can connect the vehicle and electric power systems intelligently, using the vast untapped storage of an emerging electric-drive vehicle fleet to serve the electric grid."
-- Willett Kempton & Jasna Tomić, 2004
Finally, V2G and smart-grid technology come together where buildings, transportation, and the electric grid intersect to create the smart-garage!
The goal of EVs, renewable energy, and the smart-garage is to increase efficiency and displace fossil fuel consumption.
~ ~ ~
Sign up for the monthly ATC eNewsletter <HERE>
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~ eNEWS ARCHIVES ~
You may access all of the ATC eNewsletters by following this link. The file names indicate the eNewsletter volume and number. For example: enews13.pdf is volume 1 number 3 and enews21.pdf is volume2 number 1. The largest number is always the most recent edition. The eNewsletters require a PDF reader. (We suggest you use a non-Adobe PDF reader such as the opensource Sumatra PDF viewer.)
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~ CONTACTS ~
Co-chair:
Bob Tregilus, 775.826.4514, email
Co-chair:
Chuck Swackhammer, sierrasailor53[AT]aol[DOT]com
Treasurer:
Peter Fletcher, 775.232.9236, fletchfilms[AT]hotmail[DOT]com
Speakers available for your next meeting, event, radio or TV show!
Both Bob or Chuck are happy to discuss alternative transportation and electric vehicles at your next meeting or event.
Bob has computer presentations on energy policy, fossil fuels, peak oil, renewable energy payments (REPs or Feed-in laws in Europe) and electric vehicles tailored for beginners as well as the technically minded.
Chuck keeps himself up-to-date on the latest offerings in electric transportation and can offer a primer on alternative transportation as well.
Both Bob and Chuck have experience in doing TV and radio interviews.
Sign up for the monthly ATC eNewsletter <HERE>
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GNU's Not Unix. "Tux" the Linux Penguin.
GNU/Linux: there's better alternatives in computing as well!
This page was last updated on 06/22/2009.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License, except the EAA logo in the banner at the top of the page which is a registered tradestyle of the Electric Auto Association of whom the Alternative Transportation Club, EAA is a recognized chapter.