Upcoming Events and Activities

For people who want a very efficient and technically advanced SUV for their family, and the regular Model Y isn't quite big enough, the Model Y L is certainly worth looking into.

I've been using the automated driving features in Teslas since 2019's Enhanced Autopilot (basic freeway driving and navigation), observing with great interest as each new version improved, to today's 2026 Version 14 software of Supervised Full Self Driving, which is truly amazing. I seldom touch the controls from when the car shifts out of park until it parks at my destination. By far my most common intervention is taking over to enforce my parking preferences. Particularly, I take over when I get home in order to back into my driveway because the car prefers to park nose-in. Though I hear that remembering preferences like that is coming soon. When they get preferences handled, interventions will become much more rare.

At our September 10th monthly General Meeting at Tesla Tigard, 10069 SW Cascade Avenue, Tigard, OR, we'll hear all about the MYL features and such from Tesla. And as a special treat, Brian White of YouTube channel FutureAZA, just back from his trip to the auto show in Kathmandu, Nepal, may share some interesting tidbits about the unique EV models he saw and exploding EV sales in emerging markets. And perhaps he will have some juicy information about what Tesla is up to that the employees are not at liberty to reveal. It should be an interesting program.

The OEVA will provide sandwich platters and sparkling water for the evening. You're encouraged to bring something nice to share: a side, salad, veggies, fruit, chips, cookies or other desserts, snacks, and so on. If your food item requires a serving utensil, please bring one as Tesla probably doesn't have one for us to use.

It's the same schedule as all of our General Meetings. We'll start with a board meeting at 6:30, which OEVA members are welcome to attend. The General Meeting, open to the public, starts at 7 PM with food, socializing, and looking at the cars. At 7:30 we'll start the program with announcements, followed by presentations by Tesla and Brian White. Around 8:30~8:45 we'll break for more socializing, and discussing any remaining questions. We'll head home by 9 PM.

Our thanks to Tesla Store Leader Emma Elliott, and to Brian White of FutureAZA, for their support of this event.

Beaverton Downtown Association Car Show

"Traffic Jam on Broadway" Car Show & Party

Sunday September 13th, 10 AM to 2 PM (show cars arrive at 9 AM)
Fresh Start Detail & Ceramic Coating Co., 12130 SW Broadway St, Beaverton

There's a car show coming up quite soon in Beaverton, hosted by Fresh Start Detail. They would like to help raise awareness about EVs, and have invited us to participate. They only have space for a few EVs, and are most interested in clean, unique, customized, or otherwise interesting EVs to participate in the show. It sounds like a great opportunity to reach out to a different car enthusiast group. And each participating owner gets free food, a free beer, and is entered into raffles to win free detailing and ceramic coating services from Fresh Start.

If you are interested in participating contact the organizer Jason Barker directly at 503 348-7093, or email him at jason@freshstartdetail.com. It's coming up soon and it has limited space, so if you would like to show off your beautiful EV call right away to see if you can get a spot.

After you participate, pop an email to me at Web@oeva.org, and let me know how it went. We're always looking for new places to talk with folks about the benefits of EVs.

National Drive Electric Month Event

Milwaukie Sustainability Fair

PGE Ride and Drive, Saturday September 19th, 10 AM to 3 PM
EV Ride & Drive located at Electric Avenue lot, behind B-Side Records
Located at 10834 SE McLoughlin, Milwaukie 97222 

Another PGE sponsored Ride & Drive event, being held in association with the Milwaukie Sustainability Fair. No owner EVs, so we're not involved. But it might be a convenient place for you or your friends to test drive an EV. Check out the event on the PGE website here. It's also on the Drive Electric Month website here.

OEVA Board Election is at the October 8th General Meeting

We're all volunteers here, and everyone is invited to participate at some level:
Attend events, help out at events, volunteer for projects, join the board.

Talk with a board member about what you would like to contribute.

Everyone would rather go to a good party, than a drab one. What makes a party good is not the canapes served, it's the enthusiasm the participants bring to the party. At the OEVA, we're all volunteers coming together over our interest in and enjoyment of EVs. Everyone can help out a little bit, and some of us can help out more.

If you attend a General Meeting, you may notice that someone didn't open up the container of the food they brought to share. Take a moment to open the package so it's ready to serve. Before you go home, help clear off the food table. We leave nothing behind. See someone new, go over and say hello to welcome them. Look for the little opportunities to help out.

Volunteer to help put on events, to show your EV, or to share your EV experience. This month's Lake Oswego Clean Energy and EV Fair is a great opportunity. Events where we share our experience with EVs are at the heart of the OEVA.

There are many tasks that help the club, and when a volunteer steps forward to take on that role the OEVA gets better. It needn't be a big time commitment, but it is a big help having someone step up so that task gets handled. What sort of tasks or roles? John Hinshaw organizing group drives. Paul Albertson taking care of OEVA polo shirts and name badges. Sham Datta handling technical issues. Perhaps there is something that you could take on that fits with your interests and time available?

If the success of the transition to EVs is important to you, if it is how you feel drawn to make your contribution to make the world better, consider joining the OEVA leadership team. Board members take on an area of leadership, and step up to make club activities happen from planning to execution. We meet once a month over Google Meet to discuss plans and set the direction for the club.

The world makes demands on us all, but those not yet retired have been particularly hard hit of late. This year all our board members who have full time jobs have had to step back from their service to the club, caught between the rock of job demands and the hard place of family and health issues. The board adjusted for the reduced resources by cancelling our fall National Drive Electric Month event. We'd all like to see the OEVA do more things, not fewer. If you have the time, and along that line particularly to those of us who are retired, consider joining the OEVA board and making a positive contribution to the world.

However you would like to contribute to the success of the club, every effort is welcome. Talk to a board member, Me (Ron Jackson), Morris Green, Bill Meyer, Paul Burkey, and let us know what you would like to do for the club. If you're willing to be someone we can call when we're looking for a volunteer for a one-time task, Bill Meyer is compiling an email list.

If we all put in some effort, the OEVA will grow as a fun, active club. 

Oregon DEQ reopens Clean Vehicle Rebate Program for 2026
FREE MONEY!

The New Charge Ahead Rebate is $7,500 on Eligible EV Purchase or Lease.
Hurry, vehicle must be purchased from August 25th to November 4th, 2026.

With the end of the Federal EV rebate program, it seemed like EV incentives are dead. But with the Oregon Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, income qualifying Oregonians can get a rebate of $7,500 on a new EV or $4,000 on a used EV. Higher income individuals can get a $2,000 rebate on a new EV. The maximum income threshold is actually reasonably high, so lots of people will qualify for the larger rebate. The biggest catch is that this rebate only applies on vehicles purchased in a very narrow time window, from August 25th to November 4th, 2026.

All the details of the program are on the DEQ website at this link. If you've been thinking about maybe buying or leasing an EV, check into the program. Lots of EVs are on the Eligible Car List. 

We're Losing Level 2 Public chargers

Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield alerts us to the continuing need for them

During the OEVA Group Drive to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum I spoke with Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield of the YouTube channel Transport Evolved. She was driving a new Lightning Mk.II electric motorcycle from HMP. This is a street-legal, DOT-approved combination electric scooter and motorcycle priced starting at $3,999. Range is rather limited, particularly at higher speeds, but as neighborhood or around town transportation (a small town perhaps) this could be a really practical and inexpensive commuter and errand vehicle for some people.

Nikki reminded me that there are not just these new low cost sub-100 mile range EVs in use, but that there are still many early day EVs around that don't have a huge amount of range. Consider that many early Leafs are still essential transportation for some folks, with limited range a problem for their commutes, particularly in winter. Much of the public Level 2 charging infrastructure hasn't been well maintained, and often these chargers are essential for lower range vehicles to get their owners home.

What can we do about this? Let's help get the word out to places that haven't maintained their Level 2 chargers that these chargers are beneficial to many folks, and encourage them to get their chargers working again. If the charger owners hear from folks that these chargers have value, they are a lot more likely to have them repaired. If we just shrug our shoulders and drive off in search of another charger, it just gets worse. Let people know that EV charging is important to us.

Portland E-BIKE Rebate Program

Low cost electric mobility for modest income Portlanders!

Long-time OEVA Member Christopher Holmquist told me about the Portland E-Bike Rebate Program, and this is such a generous deal that I'm sharing the information with you here. The City of Portland rebates range from $1,600 for a standard e-bike, $2,350 for a cargo e-bike, to $8,500 for an adaptive e-bike. Plus up to $300 for accessories. 

Requirements include living in the city of Portland, 18 or older, income at or below $52,140 (for households of 1, higher incomes for larger households and adaptive e-bike recipients), other requirements, and purchasing through a participating Portland retailer. 

The program provides a purchase voucher, so you are not out the cash for the bicycle while you wait to receive the rebate.

If an electric car is out of reach, but you can get by with an electric bike (and live in the city of Portland), this might be the program for you. Check it out at https://portlandebikerebate.com/

The program is funded with $20 million, and the program will issue rebates several times a year for the next several years.