2025 past Events

Past Event announcements from 2025

This is an archive of event announcements from 2025, collected here for you to see what we were up to during the year. On the second Thursday of every month we hold our regular General Meetings, except for December when we hold our Holiday Party, and July when we hold our All-EVs Picnic. We hold our major Test Drive & Information Expo events for Drive Electric Earth Month in April and National Drive Electric Month in September at the Daimler Truck North America headquarters. We also put on several events over the summer for the EV community, and attend parades and other community events. It's always a busy year!

If you want to see our upcoming events, go to our upcoming Events page!

June Meeting at Trimet Powell Garage

Thursday June 12th, 7 to 9 PM (Board Meeting 6:30)

TriMet Powell Garage is at 9900 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, OR 97266
Park on street in the neighborhood off of SE 99th Ave. Enter through the 99th Ave gate.

Don't miss this unique opportunity to see inside electrification at TriMet!

Thanks to OEVA Treasurer Bill Meyer, who set up this meeting and provided this information:

Fleet Electrification at TriMet:

On June 12th, we’ll have an opportunity to see big-league electric transportation. TriMet (Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon) started with five battery electric buses in 2019 and added five more in 2021. Their first bulk purchase of 24 battery electric buses began arriving in early 2024. These next-generation e-buses from Gillig are like the one displayed in Electric Avenue at the 2024 Portland Auto Show (last year). This YouTube video (photo below) shows an electric bus driver’s perspective.

TriMet has 688 buses, 145 MAX light rail cars, and 253 LIFT paratransit vehicles - so 5% of buses and 16% of all transit vehicles are electric.

TriMet’s temporary facility at the intersection of SE Powell Blvd and I‑205 was rebuilt in 2022, and upgraded again in winter 2025 to handle increasing numbers of electric buses. We are invited Thursday June 12th for a looky-loo.

Our tour guides for this evening might include:

Kate MacKinnon Kiser
Manager-TriMet Buildings Team (and architect at the ACE Mentor Program)

Kyle Whatley
Senior Director, Enterprise-wide Zero Emission Programs at TriMet

Coral Egnew
Community Affairs Manager at TriMet (and board member at The Street Trust)

Young Park
Senior Manager, Zero Emission Buses

What are TriMet's Plans?

About half of their buses drive more than 150 miles each day, which is more than many battery electric buses can provide on a single charge with today’s technology, so they plan to introduce hydrogen fuel-cell powered electric buses. A web search for “82nd avenue transit project” shows that Oregon is hoping for federal dollars to upgrade mass transit on the north-south corridor (a.k.a OR-213). As part of the goal of moving to a 100% zero-emissions bus fleet by 2040, the project will include fuel-cell electric buses powered by hydrogen. The 60-foot, high-capacity buses will be based out of TriMet’s future Columbia Operations Facility in Northeast Portland. Federal dollars? Green hydrogen? Perhaps this tour can put my doubts to rest.

TriMet also road-tested buses from BYD, a Chinese manufacturer, Proterra Transit (bought by Phoenix Motor), and the Xcelsior CHARGE by New Flyer of America - so I’m curious about the differences and what happened to them. WAVE charging stations (docks) were intended as in-use supplement charging. Did that work?

--Bill Meyer, OEVA Treasurer

Parking, Gate Entry, Schedule, and Food!

The TriMet Powell Garage at 9900 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, is seldom open to the public, so this is a unique opportunity to visit and see inside! But as such, there is a bit of inconvenience about parking, as their facility does not have a public parking lot (employee parking only). You can, of course, take public transit. But then we're a car club, so I expect that most of us will drive. There should be lots of free on-street parking in the neighborhood to the south of the facility.

From Powell Blvd turn south on SE 99th Avenue (right turn if you're coming from the west) and park in the neighborhood. If you're coming south on I-205, the Division/Powell exit does not let you turn left onto Powell. Your best route would be to turn right at Division, left on SE 92nd Avenue, then left onto Powell. It's an odd little jog on your route, but life is filled with many odd little diversions.

The TriMet Powell Garage is fenced and gated, so we'll need to be let through the gate and into the lobby, then escorted to our meeting room. The most convenient pedestrian access gate from the neighborhood is on SE 99th Avenue, at the northeast corner of the building. We'll put up a sign or the OEVA feather flag by the gate, so look for that. There is also a pedestrian gate on Powell too, but we probably won't have anyone stationed there to let you in, as it is further from the neighborhood where we can park.

Because access is controlled you will need to arrive between 6:30 and about 7:15 PM, when we'll have people stationed at the gate to let you in. Other than that, it's the same schedule as all of our regular 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, officially starts at 7 PM with food and socializing, though feel free to come in and start on the food while the Board Meeting is going on. At 7:30 we'll start the program with announcements about our upcoming events (see below for our upcoming Group Drive to The Dalles and Summerlake BBQ Picnic), then get on with the TriMet talk and tour. Around 8:30 or so we'll break for more socializing, and discussing any remaining questions we have with the TriMet staff. We'll head home by 9 PM.

OEVA Hospitality Coordinator Chris Stonard will bring an entree item. Last time she brought the entree it was platters of delicious sandwiches. I'm not sure what her plans are this time, but I'll let you know when I find out. You're encouraged to bring chips, a side dish, or a dessert to share. I'm not sure what I'll bring. Probably whatever strikes my fancy when I go to Costco next week.

Our thanks to Bill Meyer, OEVA Treasurer, for finding and arranging this event. We can use your help to find future meeting venues. If you have a connection to a local EV-related business, send an email to me or one of the other OEVA board members and make an introduction. It's a great way to get the word out about the business to the wider EV community, and it's fun for the club to get out to new places and learn different aspects of EVs.

June EV group Drive to the Dalles

Saturday June 14th, departing Columbia Gorge Outlet Mall at 10 AM
Or meet up with us at Bargeway Pub in The Dalles at 11:00 AM

We'll have lunch on the pub's patio a few yards from the Columbia River
After lunch we'll do a group tour of the amazing National Neon Sign Museum
And there are many more interesting and scenic attractions to experience!

Sign up now using this link: https://signup.com/go/aKuaOPE

Our First Fun Drive of 2025!

We started doing group drives last summer, and they've been popular, so we're starting this summer with a really unique destination. These drives are open to all electric vehicle people. You don't need to be an OEVA member. Our goal is to bring the local EV community together with fun and interesting activities. Bring along friends who are curious if EVs are up to more than just driving in town. Show them you can have a lot of fun with travel in your EV. Please sign up now using the link above so we can let our destinations know how many of us to expect.

The Dalles has put a lot of effort into becoming a tourist destination, and it really shows. There are many things to do in The Dalles: fascinating museums, arts, history, spectacular scenery, hikes in the Columbia Gorge and along the paved Riverfront Trail in town. There is far more than one can do in an afternoon. My wife and I plan to reserve a motel room for a night or two and make a mini-vacation out of it. We spent several days in The Dalles this spring and left with still more things we wanted to do, and places we want to revisit. I'll cover many of them here.

Group Drive to the Bargeway Pub for lunch

Part of the fun is driving as a convoy of EVs, leaving gas car drivers wondering why they are seeing so many EVs on the road. We'll meet at the Columbia Gorge Outlet Mall, 450 NW 257th Way, Troutdale, between 9 AM and 10 AM. We'll gather near the Tesla Superchargers. There are also Electrify America chargers nearby. We'll depart, convoy style, at 10 AM to arrive at the Bargeway Pub, 1535 Bargeway Rd, The Dalles, shortly after they open at 11 AM. Or, if it is more convenient for you, meet us at the Bargeway Pub at 11 AM and let them know you're with the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association group.

If the weather cooperates we'll be able to eat on the patio a few yards from the Columbia River, and watch the boats and barges go by. The paved trail between the patio and the river is part of the 6.5 mile Riverfront Trail (more about that later). There are a variety of food choices with salads, burgers, sandwiches, pub fare, steaks, and pasta. Prices were reasonable, and portions were ample. The Steak Salad with Chimichurri that I had was excellent.

The National Neon Sign Museum

After lunch we'll drive the 1.6 miles from the Bargeway Pub to the highlight of our day, a group tour of the unique and fascinating National Neon Sign Museum, presenting the history, technology, and artistry of neon. The building that houses the museum has a history too. It was built in 1910 as an Elks Lodge. In 2015 the city provided the building for the National Neon Sign Museum, and in 2019 the museum opened to the public.

I found it very interesting when we visited. After a short video presenting the art of neon tube creation, we toured several galleries where we saw unique historical artifacts from the earliest days, before incandescent lights, when neon was used for interior lighting. When Karla and I visited, our tour was given by David Benko (he's holding the "#thedalles" sign in the Neon Museum photo above). David is a neon sign artist, lifelong collector of all things neon, and along with his wife Kirsten Benko founder and owner of the museum.

Besides the huge range of signs of all types representing the artistry of the medium, I was particularly interested in the rare historical artifacts from the earliest days, before the incandescent light bulb, as scientists and inventors struggled to create a practical means of turning the new discoveries of electricity into useful illumination. For an engineer like me, this was really cool. And for a keen appreciator of the arts, Karla was drawn to the neon artistry.

As if creating this amazing museum was not enough to keep them busy, the Benkos are leading the restoration of the Jantzen beach carousel horses, with a fine example of this ongoing work on display.

After we take the tour and have time to look around, we'll gather in the second floor ballroom. You have the opportunity to get together with your EV friends to go together to visit the sites in The Dalles and surrounding areas that particularly interest you. Let me tell you about a few that we have visited:

Walking Around The Dalles

Just walking around The Dalles gives you things to see. The Dalles has been bringing in crews of artists who have been adding murals, primarily relating to local history, to buildings around town. At the front desk at the Neon Museum we picked up a map showing the locations of all the murals. And also a map of local attractions and businesses. I'd like to point out Shannon's Ice Cream Shop, a block east and a block south of the Neon Museum, at 318 E 4th Street. Shannon's serves homemade and Tillamook ice cream flavors.

Fort Dalles Museum

The Fort Dalles Museum at 500 West 15th & Garrison Street in The Dalles holds artifacts from the former Surgeon’s Quarters; the only remaining officer’s quarters of the 1856 Fort Dalles military complex. One of Oregon’s oldest history museums, it first opened its doors in 1905. The museum has interesting displays, photos, furniture, and artifacts from the mid 19th to early 20th century.

When we visited the museum Karla and I walked in and started looking around, as you do at a museum. Shortly the new curator, Bob Pollock, came into the room to tell us that the museum wasn't open for the season yet. But instead of inviting us to leave, he spent over an hour giving us an expertly guided tour, explaining the collection and his goals for the museum to tell the story of the early history of Fort Dalles and the role it played in local history.

Bob and his wife Sue are very gracious hosts. When he heard that I'm with the Oregon Electric Vehicle Association he took me over to the vehicle barn to show me their 1902 Studebaker Electric. Now that's an early EV!

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum

The Neon Museum folks also gave us a coupon for discounted admission to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum. This large, modern museum is the Official Interpretive Center of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. It presents the geological, natural, and cultural history of the region. It's also a great place to park and walk along the 6.5 miles Dalles Riverfront Trail.

I found the information about the origins of the Cascade mountains particularly interesting. I had assumed that the Cascades were formed by a row of volcanoes. Turns out that while the major peaks are volcanic, that isn't what formed the mountain chain. And you can see what the actual cause was by looking at the geology revealed along the deep cut of the Columbia River Gorge.

The Discovery Center is also a great place to park for a walk along the 6.5 miles Dalles Riverfront Trail.

The Dalles Riverfront Trail

The Riverfront trail is paved, level or gently sloping, and is open to bicycles, pedestrians, and dogs on leash. It's a great place to walk off a hearty meal. There is impressive bronze art along the trail at the Discovery Museum. Here's information about the trail from https://gorgefriends.org/find-a-hike/the-dalles-riverfront-trail/

The Riverfront Trail begins in the east end of the Discovery parking lot. From here, a short, especially scenic stub of the trail goes west to almost opposite Crate’s Point. Geologically, it’s the east end of the Columbia River Gorge. The beautiful pond here belies the fact this land used to be occupied by a cement plant.

After exploring west of the Discovery Center, head east on the trail. Pass many single-track paths to rocky cliffs that line the river like a gutter. Some of these paths are worth investigating; they lead to secluded coves. The most scenic parts of the trail, in terms of natural beauty, are on the west end.

Most of the narrow channels through basalt, which French-Canadian explorers called les dalles, are now underwater. One channel along the Waterfront Trail, between the mainland and Rocky Island, offers an idea of what the river looked like before dams.

Continuing east on the path, come to the mouth of Chenoweth Creek. This is where pioneers launched themselves into the Columbia, on the final leg of their journey to the Willamette Valley. With the opening of the Barlow Trail over Mount Hood in 1846, many opted to skip this treacherous river journey, instead taking the overland route.

Keep on the trail, which winds inland to cross Chenoweth Creek on a bridge, then passes the huge Google data center. Starting in 1958, the land was home to an aluminum smelter. After closure and reopening in the 1980s, the smelter closed permanently in 2000. Like the smelter, Google also found the inexpensive hydroelectric power generated by The Dalles Dam to be a reason to locate here. It opened at the site in 2006.

The Rowena Crest Overlook & Tom McCall Preserve, Historic Highway Trail

When we were at the Discovery Center there was a large organized bicycle ride from the parking lot west on historic Hwy 30 to the Rowena Crest Overlook. We did the drive the next day, and the view from Rowena Crest Overlook is spectacular! The Overlook is on top of a plateau, and adjacent to The Nature Conservancy's Tom McCall Preserve, which has trails, but no restrooms, and dogs are not permitted in the Preserve.

The easy Plateau Trail is a 2.6-mile loop that begins at the trailhead sign on Highway 30. It crosses the plateau to cliff edges and encircles a permanent pond via the Shasha loop trail. Elevation gain is about 250 feet.

The moderate difficulty Tom McCall Point Trail is a 4 mile out and back hike with over 1,000 feet of elevation gain.

Details about these trails can be found on the Nature Conservancy's website here.

There are many other places to hike in the Columbia Gorge. One of the most historically interesting is the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail, which is a section of the old highway that is closed to cars and beautifully restored for hikers and bicyclists. The highlight of the trail is the Mosier Tunnels, which feature openings through the rock walls to view the gorge below. The Mark O Hatfield East Trailhead is the closest trailhead to the tunnels. To get there from Rowena Crest Overlook, drive 6.4 miles west on Hwy 30, then turn on Rock Creek Road and go 0.7 miles. The trailhead parking fee was $5 when we visited, and there is a vault toilet. The Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail and The Dalles Riverfront Trail are great places for bike rides, safely away from motor traffic.

White River Falls State Park

The White River Falls State Park is about 40 minutes south of the Neon Sign Museum. The falls were particularly spectacular with the early spring runoff when we visited back at the end of March. But for an engineering aficionado like me, the most interesting sight is the Pacific Power and Light Company's hydroelectric station built at the foot of the falls in 1910 and abandoned in 1963. It's a short, steep hike from the rim down to the ruins of the power station. Since being abandoned, aspiring artists have taken it upon themselves to decorate the rusting machinery. It's a unique look.

Maryhill Museum & Stonehenge Memorial

About a half hour east of The Dalles on the Washington side of the Columbia is the Maryhill Museum of Art. And 5 miles east of that is the Stonehenge Memorial. Two of the oddest things you would expect to see in these remote locations, maybe leading you to wonder who the Sam Hill would build them here.

If you can spare the time and if you're heading home during daylight, you might consider driving back to Portland on the Washington side. The road is more scenic than the modern I-84 freeway, with little towns to stop in and great views across the river of the cliffs on the Oregon side.

Sign Up for the Day Trip, Consider Staying a Night or Two

There's more to do than I've covered here. I understand that The Dalles Dam has a visitors center. There are many trails. There are many interesting things to see in the area. I hope you will join us for the day trip, and you might consider staying a night or two so you can enjoy more of what The Dalles area has to offer.

Please sign up so we can let Bargeway Pub and the National Neon Sign Museum know how many people to expect:
https://signup.com/go/aKuaOPE

May Meeting at Rivian in Bridgeport Village, Tigard

Thursday May 8th, 7 to 9 PM

Right Across from the Parking Structure, at 7393 SW Bridgeport Rd, Tigard

Electric Vehicles Designed for Outdoor Adventures

If ever there were EVs designed with outdoor adventures in mind, they would be the Rivian R1S sport utility vehicle and R1T pickup truck. And the best place to find out about those vehicles is at our meeting Thursday night at the new Rivian Space in the Bridgeport Village destination shopping complex just west of I-5 at Lower Boones Ferry Road, between Tigard and Tualatin. The Rivian Space just opened last month, and we're delighted to be invited to hold our May OEVA General Meeting there.

The Rivian website describes their spaces this way:

Our spaces are for experiencing Rivian in real life — places where you can play with our vehicles*, learn something new, hang out and connect with your community. We choose our spaces for their vibrant locations or their storied past — ultimately, these are places we’d like you to come in and stay awhile.

That's a philosophy exactly in tune with the OEVA. Our goal is to make our meetings a place for the whole local EV community to hang out, connect, and learn more about EVs. We're delighted to spend the evening with the Rivian community, learning about the R1S and R1T.

I asked Elizabeth Hoffman, Retail Manager at Rivian Bridgeport Village, what they have planned for us. She tells us:

"Neema Hodaie, one of our Advisors here at Rivan [not pictured above, that's another Rivian Advisor helping a customer I happened to snap a photo of when I visited], will walk our guests through an educational demo of the vehicles, highlighting the unique features that Rivian has to offer, then holding a Q&A about the vehicle and offering the opportunity to schedule demo drives at a later date.

"He will primarily focus on the R1T and R1S, but Neema will also touch on what’s ahead for Rivian and how we’re thinking about the future. He’ll be sure to highlight what sets Rivian apart from other EVs—especially in terms of design philosophy, off-road capability, adventure-readiness, and our approach to charging infrastructure. He’ll also cover access to the Rivian Adventure Network, including recent updates around availability for other EV brands. He will be providing a thorough customer experience for all the guests."

I asked Elizabeth if they have any Rivian branded merch for sale:

"As for merch—yes! We have a wide variety available in the store, including clothing, drinkware, blankets, hats, and gear designed for the vehicles (though many items can be enjoyed by anyone). There are definitely some cool pieces worth mentioning!"

Parking, Schedule, and Food!

The Rivan Space at Bridgeport Village is about as easy to park at and find as it is possible to be. The parking garage for Bridgeport Village is at 7415 SW Bridgeport Rd, Tigard. Rivian is right across the street from the parking garage main entrance. When I visited there was a beautiful R1T parked out front. Traffic on I-5 and Hwy 217 can get backed up at rush hour, but hopefully traffic will ease by our meeting time of 7 PM.

It's the same schedule as all of our regular 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, primarily about our upcoming monthly general meetings and special events, followed by Neema Hodaie showing the Rivians and answering our questions. By 8:30 we'll break for more socializing, discussing any remaining questions we have with Neema and the Rivian staff, and last minute purchases of neat Rivian merch. We'll head home by 9 PM.

Rivian is providing food, "something local and easy to eat while walking and talking," and N/A beverages. And as always I encourage people to bring snack items and desserts to share. Everybody likes a good cookie as they're walking and talking. This time I'm bringing Kirkland Signature Cashew Clusters with Almonds and Pumpkin Seeds. They looked delicious when we were at Costco last week

Our thanks to Bruce Crunican, President of the Portland Rivian Club for making the introductions to Rivian and to store manager Elizabeth Hoffman. If you have a connection to a local EV-related business, send an email to me or one of the other OEVA board members and make an introduction. It's a great way to get the word out about the business to the wider EV community, and it's fun for the club to get out to new places and learn different aspects of EVs.

2025 Drive Electric Earth Month Oregon Electric Vehicle Association
Test Drive & Information Expo

Sunday April 27th, 2025, Setup 9 - 9:30 AM, Public Hours 10 AM to 4 PM

Guest Parking: 4085 N Anchor St., Event Site: 4555 N Channel Ave.

Register Now at https://driveelectricearthmonth.org/event?eventid=4623

Test Drive A Broad Range of EVs

Test drive a broad range of EVs, from economy EVs to luxury and performance models from many brands. We'll publish the vehicles here when we get confirmations closer to the event. There's no better way to get the EV experience than actually driving the vehicles that you are considering from the different manufacturers on the same route and on the same day. Take your time looking over static display models. Then walk over to the Owner Display Vehicles and talk with real owners and get their insights from daily use for years of those models.

The Oregon Electric Vehicle Association puts on Test Drive & Information Expo events twice a year, celebrating Drive Electric Earth Month in the spring and National Drive Electric Month in the fall, to help you find the best EV for you.

New Vehicle Display

Adjacent to the Test Drive area, local dealers display new vehicles for your inspection. Complementing the test drives, which give you the driving experience, the new vehicles on static display give you the opportunity to look them over in detail. Take your time to check out them out and ask the dealer representatives questions. They can answer questions on specs and availability and pricing. But to really know what it is like to own and use the vehicle on a daily basis, you need to talk to real owners.

Owner Display Vehicles: Real Owners, Real Experience, Real Answers

Ah, the heart and soul of the OEVA! Owners showing their personal cars, answering guest questions from their real lived experience. We encourage our guests to talk with owners of the cars you are considering. From our volunteer-owners you can learn what it's like to live with that EV as a daily driver and for cross-country road trips. Ask nicely and they're generally happy to invite you sit in their vehicle while they describe and show you everything you want to know from their perspective of living with that EV. And for owners, every OEVA event is a great opportunity to share in the camaraderie of the EV community, inclusive of all Makes and Models.

Keynote Presentations from EV Experts

The Daimler Headquarters building south of the outdoor event space has state of the art multimedia meeting spaces, and we're making use of them for presentations on topics for people new to EVs, as well as for experienced EV owners looking to learn more. Some things are best experienced, so we have test drives. Some things are best shown in the vehicle by a patient owner who has real world experience with the EV, so we many EV owner volunteers displaying their vehicles and answering your questions. But some topics are best explained in a presentation with photos and graphics. We've got a great line-up of presentations at this event.

Beginners should particularly check out EV Lingo That Matters, EV Charging Tips & Best Practices, Should You Buy or Lease a New EV?, and Used EV Purchase Experience, and everyone considering buying an EV would get important purchase information by attending those last two presentations.

If you're an EV enthusiast and interested in the hardware or technology, Tesla Cybercab: Rethink Everything, V2L V2H V2G Technology, Fiat 600 Gas to EV Conversion, and Rebuilding a Wrecked Ionic 5 might appeal to you.

And for the latest look at what's going on in the largest EV market in the world, hear the latest news at China's EVs: Unstoppable?, from Brian White, just back from Shanghai.

Presentations Preliminary Schedule (check the Program at the event for changes)

Time Subject Presenter
11:00 EV Lingo That Matters Danny Brasuk, OEVA Member
11:30 China's EVs: Unstoppable? Brian White, FutureAZA YouTube Channel
12:00 EV Charging Tips & Best Practices Rob Grove, President of EV Charge PDX
12:30 Tesla Cybercab: Rethink Everything Brian White, FutureAZA YouTube Channel
1:00 Should You Buy or Lease a New EV? Ken Cornelison, Gen Mgr Kia of Portland
1:30 V2L, V2H, V2G Technology Casey Workman, Co-Owner Milwaukie Electric
2:00 Used EV Purchase Experience Carey Booth, OEVA Member
2:30 Fiat 600 Gas to EV Conversion Summer Schneider, OEVA Member
3:00 Rebuilding a Wrecked Ioniq 5 Patrick Sughrue, OEVA Member

Gas to EV Conversions

These labors of love are magnificent one-of-a-kind creations, starting with a gas vehicle and transforming it for the fuel of the 21st Century. Curious about what it takes, or are you looking to create your own special vehicle? People who have done it are there to answer all your questions, and show you the meticulous work they've done. And if you're interested in Gas to EV conversions, don't miss Summer Schneider's presentation about converting his gas Fiat 600 to electric drive.

Helpful Local EV-Related Companies

We're putting extra effort into expanding exhibitor participation, giving you the opportunity to meet with local companies providing EV-related products and services. If you're looking for an EV charger or installation, repair options, or other EV needs, check out the local business tents.

Antique Electric Vehicles

It looks like this time around our friends at the WAAAM museum probably won't be able to bring their 1914 Detroit Electric to the event, but OEVA member Myles T. will display his 1910 Milburn Light Electric. It's remarkable how long electric cars have been around, and amazing how far the technology has come in 115 years!

Freightliner eCascadia and eM2

See the huge and hugely impressive eCascadia and eM2 at their native home. Our deepest thanks to Daimler Truck North America for hosting the Test Drive & Information Expo and Diego Quevedo for his support of the event at DTNA.

Food Truck Details! Discount Coupons!

We have two great on-site food carts for the event, Getta Gyro and Richi's Tacos. As a special Thank-You for attending the event, the OEVA will give up to 400 guests a $10 discount coupon for purchasing food from the on-site food trucks. And for the people who help put on the event an even better deal: The EV owners who display their vehicle and answer questions in the Owner Display Vehicles and Conversion Vehicles areas, the volunteers whose efforts make the event go smoothly, Keynote presenters, and dealer staff, the OEVA will provide coupons to comp selected meals including a drink. Such a deal!

Free, Convenient Parking

We have a large parking lot at 4085 N Anchor St, Portland, for free Guest Parking (green rectangle above). The event is open for guests from 10 AM to 4 PM, Sunday April 27th, 2025.

Owner display vehicles and Dealer display and test drive vehicles are at the Event Site at 4555 N Channel Ave, Portland (yellow rectangle above). Please arrive between 9 AM and 9:30 AM for setup, so everything is in place and ready before the 10 AM opening to the public. Other than test drive vehicles, all vehicles are to be on static display until the event closes at 4 PM. If you need to leave earlier or arrive later, please contact OEVA Volunteer Coordinator Ken Hoffman, Volunteer@oeva.org, to see if an accommodation can be made in your case. For public safety we only allow moving vehicles in the limited-access Test Drive Vehicles area.

Register Now!

The event is free and open to everyone interested in Electric Vehicles. Register now at:
https://driveelectricearthmonth.org/event?eventid=4623

April Meeting at Ranger EV in Portland

Thursday April 10th, 7 to 9 PM

Olympic Mills Commerce Building, 107 SE Washington St, Room 133, Portland

Learn About Ranger EV's Innovative Charging Solution

We like to visit our local EV businesses, particularly like to bring attention to innovative new start-ups, and Ranger EV in SE Portland has an interesting solution to a problem you might have encountered on vacation, a solution that you may see a lot more in the future as you road trip around the Pacific Northwest.

Charging at home is one of the great conveniences of owning an EV. DC fast charging lets us go anywhere in the country. But the thing we often miss at our destination is the convenience that we had when charging at home. There are lots of vacation rentals that don't offer EV charging. Not that they couldn't. They just don't see a way to make back the expense, and putting in expensive hardware to meter the charge may not be in their budget.

Ranger EV's solution is like a Venmo for electricity that solves the charging problem for EV travelers and the financial problem of their hosts. Their initial focus is on vacation rentals in charging deserts, but Ranger EV's platform is designed to be a general purpose solution for electricity transactions between hosts and their EV guests. Their software-only social payment approach means there's no new hardware to install. Anyone with an outlet or EV charger can share energy on their platform.

The benefits to Ranger Station Hosts are adding a passive revenue stream to their rental through recouping energy cost and then some by monetizing their outlet or EV charger, and attracting more bookings from EV travelers like us.

The benefits for EV owners are saving time and money by plugging in where we're staying, a quick and efficient way to fill in charging deserts at our favorite travel destinations.

I've certainly appreciated when rentals provide free charging, but not many rental owners are looking for ways to increase their uncompensated expenses these days. Ranger EV proposes as a solution to establish the simple social norm that if we, as EV travelers, are happy to pay a fair price for the energy and the convenience of plugging in where we stay overnight, then vacation rental owners have a nice incentive to provide this amenity. Everyone wins!

At our April meeting, founder/CEO Brian Clark will be talking about the origin story of Ranger EV based on his EV travels. He will include a product demonstration and talk about the broader vision for Ranger EV as a key tool in the democratization of energy commerce. And he is looking for our feedback. He emailed me that, "Adoption and feedback from passionate groups of EV travelers, like OEVA members, will be key to our success. We want to know what you think!"

It looks like a very interesting approach. There is a wide spread between DC fast charger kWh costs and residential power rates. I'd be happy to split the difference between the two rates to give the rental owner a profit and save me a few bucks as well as avoiding the inconvenience of driving to a DC fast charger during my holiday stay. Let's take a look at what they're doing, and share with him some of the Experienced EV Owner Wisdom for which OEVA members are so well known.

Meeting Location and Parking

Ranger EV is located in the historic Olympic Mills Commerce Center, 107 SE Washington St, Portland. Unmetered street parking is available on the surrounding blocks, particularly along SE 2nd Ave. Heads up, some blocks are angle parking instead of the usual parallel street parking.

The event space is in the South Loading Dock area and adjacent Room 133 of the Olympic Mills building. Enter via the South Entrance of the building on SE Washington St. Upon entering via South entrance go up a small set of stairs and the event space will be visible on the 1st floor immediately to your left. Wheelchair access is via an elevator on your left in the entryway to go from level (LL) to level 1.

Ranger EV will provide beverages, and OEVA Hospitality Coordinator Chris Stonard will bring the entree. My guess would be a platter of some sort of delicious sandwiches, but we'll see what Chris comes up with. Please bring something to share, a side or dessert or snack or something. I'm bringing a Costco bag of Boom Chicka Pop, arguably the best tasting sweet and salty kettle popcorn that the ingenuity of mankind has yet devised. It's only 70 calories per cup, and the Costco bag is 50 cups, so enough for, oh, I don't know, at least several people.

It's the same schedule as all of our regular 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, primarily about our upcoming Drive Electric Earth Month event (see below), followed by Brian Clark telling the Ranger EV story and giving a demonstration. By 8:30 we'll break for more socializing, and discussing any remaining questions we have with Brian. We'll head home by 9 PM.

Our thanks to Terry Kammer, VP of the Portland Rivian Club for making the introduction to Ranger EV and Brian Clark. If you have a connection to a local EV-related business, send an email to me or one of the other OEVA board members and make an introduction. It's a great way to get the word out about the business to the wider EV community, and it's fun for the club to get out to new places and learn different aspects of EVs.

March Meeting at Tesla Tigard Canceled

We just received word from Emma at Tesla Tigard that there was another incident last night and they need to cancel tonight's meeting. KPTV sent a reporter who gave an on the scene report. Click here for the KPTV story. They report that security at the Tesla site called Tigard Police to report the shots fired at 4:15 AM. Fortunately nobody was injured, though there was significant damage to vehicles and buildings. Tigard Police and Federal authorities are investigating.

We're sad to see that the folks at Tesla Tigard have to deal with this again. They're just trying to do their jobs, selling EVs, like they've been doing for years. Political debate and protest are part of a functioning democracy. Political violence is not. We all hope this is the last of this senseless destruction that our friends at Tesla Tigard need to deal with.

March General Meeting at Tesla Tigard
Cancelled DUE TO ANOTHER gunfire INCIDENT

Thursday March 13th, 7 to 9 PM

Tesla Tigard, 10069 SW Cascade Ave, Tigard Oregon

Check out the New Model Y & the Cybertruck

Our March Oregon Electric Vehicle Association general meeting will be at Tesla Tigard this Thursday. We'll get to check out the freshly arrived New Model Y. From the new trim shape and light bar in the front to the indirect tail light bar in the back, and with upgrades to the interior and to the underlying technology in between, this is truly a New Model Y! The Model Y was the best selling car in the world for both 2023 and 2024, not just among EVs but of cars of any fuel type. That's quite an accomplishment, and that's not it's only one. It is also the most American made car sold in the USA.

Last time we were at Tesla, back in May 2024, we were checking out the Upgraded Model 3 and the newly released Foundation Series Cybertruck. At that meeting Tesla Sales Associate Dan Stanton regaled us with fascinating information about the Cybertruck. Since then Tesla has concluded production of the Foundation series and is now into regular production of the All-Wheel Drive and Cyberbeast versions.

We're working with Tesla to see if we can set up test drives for folks attending the meeting. Tesla Tigard closes to the public at 6 PM, but they are staying open for our meeting until 9 PM. They might be able to set up something for people to use to sign up for test drives in advance. I'll let you know in the meeting reminder email on announce@oeva.org and here on the events page of the website what they have set up for us.

If you haven't experienced Tesla's Supervised Full Self Driving (FSD) recently, and by recently I mean since FSD 13.2 went into wide release around the turn of the year, you haven't seen what the technology can really do. It amazes me that our Tesla routinely drives us from our driveway to our destination with my feet flat on the floor and my hands off the controls the whole way. The feel of the drive is smooth and natural. Tesla's technology is advancing so amazingly quickly. With Supervised FSD the crash rate is already a tenth that of the average human driven car. You still have to supervise it, as it doesn't understand all road signs and pavement markings yet, so it occasionally wants to get into the wrong lane or makes other easily overruled mistakes. FSD will soon learn the things it currently lacks, and "driving" will become as simple and safe as taking an elevator. If you get the chance, I highly recommend you try it out. This will fundamentally change the experience, safety, and economics of automobiles. And a lot sooner than you may expect.

Tesla's Mission is Accelerating the World's Transition to Sustainable Energy. Their over 100,000 employees all around the world are dedicated to that mission, and that goal is right in line with the OEVA's mission to Promote the adoption of electric vehicles through education, advocacy, and community engagement. The people working every day at Tesla, and Tesla owners using their EVs instead of gas cars, are doing nothing but good for the world. There's one guy who owns less than 13% of the company who has set himself up as a lightning rod of political controversy, while the other 100,000 employees and the other 87% owners of the company just want to see Tesla continue to advance the state of the art in EV technology while lowering costs, to make safer and cleaner transportation a reality for everyone. Let's keep that in mind during these politically charged times.

Our Hospitality Coordinator, Chris Stonard, will provide the main dish for the food table at the meeting. The last time we were at Tesla Tigard, she made a batch of her delicious Hawaiian Sandwiches. Those were a treat. I'm not sure what she's planning for this event, but I know she is a master of the delicious. Please bring something to contribute to the snack table. You can bring something healthy, like fruit or veggies, or whatever you would like to share, healthy or delicious. I'm bringing a tub of my favorite chocolate covered mint cookies, so maybe not the healthiest, but I really like cookies.

It's the same schedule as all of our regular 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 some announcements, followed by Tesla folks talking about the New Model Y. By 8:30 we'll break for more socializing, looking at cars, and discussing any remaining questions we have with the Tesla staff. We head home by 9 PM.

February 13th General Meeting Cancelled

The New Meeting Plan

The weather forecast for Thursday isn't looking great, is it? It really could go either way, warm up a bit and just rain, or cool down a bit and be a real ice and snow headache. We don't want to have a dealership get the staff lined up and the place ready for our meeting, only to cancel at the last minute due to weather. And we don't want people to be out in potentially hazardous driving conditions. So we're canceling this Thursday's meeting.

And yet, we've got the Oregon International Auto and Motorcycle Show coming up next week, and there are a few things we wanted to take care of in person during our second Thursday of the month General Meeting. No matter, we'll take care of things virtually through the internet, the way us 21st century people do everything now, everything except get a haircut.

We have 30 free adult admission tickets from the Auto Show for you to distribute to your family and friends. OEVA Past-President Morris Green is distributing the tickets as links to electronic tickets on Ticket Tomato. Email Morris (past-pres@oeva.org) and let him know how many tickets you want. It's first come, first served, for 1 ticket when he sends out the links. If he has tickets left over at that time he will honor the requests for the additional tickets. I'm not sure when Morris will get around to that particular task, so best to email him right away!

We wanted to give people a chance to pick up their OEVA embroidered polo shirts and name badges at Thursday's meeting, so they could wear them to the Auto Show. Instead Paul Albertson will bring his stock of OEVA shirts and the name badges he has received from printing, to the Auto Show for OEVA members who haven't picked theirs up yet. He will also loan out OEVA shirts to volunteers who aren't OEVA members for their shifts. I find these polo shirts feel particularly comfortable when worn over a long-sleeve T-shirt when it's cool out.

The other thing we wanted to take care of at the meeting was distributing Test Drive & Information Expo posters. I'll bring a stack of letter and poster sized prints to the Auto Show, and to next month's OEVA General Meeting on Thursday March 13th. Please take as many as you think you will be able to find bulletin boards to put them, at work, school, church, or wherever people stop to look at a bit of wall to find out about upcoming events.

It's not often we miss holding a meeting, but these things happen. We've got an interesting meeting planned for March, checking out one of the first units of a spectacular EV just going into production. Details in the March Update!

Oregon International Auto & Motorcycle Show

Drive Electric Featured Exhibit - OEVA Volunteer Opportunities!
February 20-23, 2025, Oregon Convention Center

777 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Portland

The Auto Show is this month, and the OEVA will be there with our awesome Volunteers as one of the sponsors of the Drive Electric featured exhibit. Drive Electric is the centerpiece of EVs at the Auto Show, and volunteering is a great opportunity for you to share your knowledge and enthusiasm for EVs with show guests. It's a really fun experience, talking with people who are interested in EVs, but are sometimes a bit uncertain about taking the plunge. Sharing your experience and answering basic EV questions at this event really makes a difference.

The centerpiece of Drive Electric is the FIND YOUR EV display, a double-sided wall with 64 large data sheets covering just about every EV available in the US. People at the wall often have questions, and appreciate your EV knowledge and personal experience. OEVA member and former OEVA President, Gary Exner, creates these excellent reference sheets every year for the Auto Show. Last year's data sheets are currently on the Cars page of this website, but we'll get that page updated with the new sheets before the Auto Show.

Surrounding the FIND YOUR EV wall, local dealers from many brands provide a variety of EVs on display. Seeing the data, then examining the car, getting questions answered by experienced EV owners in a non-sales, educational environment, gives people a great introduction to electric vehicles.

In order to be immediately recognizable to auto show guests as an OEVA Volunteer, please wear your OEVA embroidered polo shirt and name badge. Don't have an OEVA shirt and name badge? Why not take care of that! A shirt and name badge are available to you at no charge when you join the OEVA. To get your shirt and sign up for your custom name badge, see Paul Albertson at any of our regular monthly meetings. We'll have some shirts available to borrow at the Drive Electric exhibit.

When you're not volunteering at Drive Electric, take a walk and look around the show. It's interesting to check out what's on display.

Auto Show Dates and Hours:

Thursday, February 20 | 12 pm – 9 pm

Friday, February 21 | 12 pm – 10 pm

Saturday, February 22 | 10 am – 10 pm

Sunday, February 23 | 10 am - 7 pm

Of course you get free admission on the day you're volunteering. If you volunteer on multiple days you get an Exhibitor Badge, good for early entry and all days of the show, which you can pick up at the Exhibitor Entrance on MLK when you arrive for your first shift. If you volunteer on just one day instead of an Exhibitor Badge we'll email you a link for you to download a show admission ticket.

When you choose your volunteer shifts, please keep in mind that we'll need more volunteers during peak hours. On Thursday and Friday the show gets busier after folks get off of work, during the late afternoon and early evening hours. The busiest day is Saturday. So, please, we'll need more volunteer help all day Saturday! Sunday attendance is also fairly strong though it lightens up quite a bit later in the day.

We have a limited number of parking spaces at the "I-5 lot", under the elevated freeway, behind the Convention Center. Thanks to Ken Cornelison, Kia of Portland's general manager, Kia of Portland has offered us free parking in the parking structure on NE Irving street across from Kia, conveniently only a block from the Convention Center. There are some important details and restrictions about parking there, which we'll let you know when we confirm your registration next week.

We're trying a new volunteer registration system at Signup.com. To volunteer, sign up at https://signup.com/go/ZjbKbUr. Please sign up right away. We need your registration by Tuesday February 11th in order to get the registration information from Signup to the Auto show, and then email your admission ticket link or Exhibitor Badge confirmation to you. For questions or late registrations, email OEVA Event Coordinator Paul Burkey at Events@oeva.org.

January Meeting at Kia of Portland

Thursday January 9th, 7 to 9 PM

Kia of Portland, 720 NE Grand Ave, Portland

Learn about Kia and enjoy Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que!

Our January Oregon Electric Vehicle Association general meeting will be at Kia of Portland this Thursday. Find out about the Kia EV6 and new for 2024 EV9, which have proven to be popular in the US. The EV9 is of particular interest as a large 6 or 7 passenger EV at a reasonable price, a standout when compared with earlier compact EVs. The Cox Automotive Kelley Blue Book Electric Vehicle Sales Report Q4, 2024, with full-year US sales estimates for all EVs, will be coming out very soon and I'm excited to see how the EV horse race last year turned out. The EV6 and EV9 are very likely to give a quite respectable showing. I'll be updating the Cars page of the OEVA website with sales data and updated spec sheets prior to the Oregon International Auto Show in February.

I'm curious if Portland Kia has any information about the 2026 model year Kia EV6 and EV9 SUVs, to be made in the USA at Kia's factory in West Point, Georgia, coming out later this year. According to FuelEconomy.gov, the 2026 models will be eligible for the $7,500 tax credit. It's uncertain whether the tax credit will be repealed by congress at the request of the next administration, so if you're looking to take advantage of the credit, best be ready to purchase when these models become available. They will have the NACS charging port, the future of EV charging. At least, that's what I've heard. I wonder what we'll find out more about the upcoming models at the meeting?

Kia has always had interesting features in their EVs, of particular note are the 120 volt power outlets on the EV6 and EV9. Remember that cold snap last year, when temperatures dropped to 15 degrees out? We lost power at our house for five days, but kept the house tolerably warm thanks to pulling power from our Model 3 to run our gas fireplace blower and gas recirculating hot water heater. It took a bit of inside knowledge to use an external power inverter with my Tesla, but that would have been a piece of cake for anyone with an EV6 or EV9. Just plug a power cord in the socket!

Kia of Portland's general manager, Ken Cornelison, is serious about selling EVs. He's on the left in the photo above, personally showing a Kia EV at one of our Test Drive & Information Expo events. He was a great host when we visited Kia of Portland a year ago, and this time he is stepping it up providing dinner for us from Famous Dave's Bar-B-Que! I know we're really there to learn about EVs, and make connections with other EV owners, but hey, it's Famous Dave's!

You're encouraged to bring a dessert to share. Maybe bring some of those remaining holiday treats you've been trying to not binge on. I've decided to postpone my annual holiday dietary repentance until after this meeting.

Kia of Portland has limited parking, so they've reserved the first floor of the parking garage across Irving Street from Kia for us to use, free of charge. Kia will keep the parking garage open late for us, so don't worry if there is a sign that the garage closes at 7 PM. The Kia staff are the ones that lock the gate. It looks like an easy right turn off of NE Grand onto Irving Street (try not to collide with a light rail train), then half-way up the block turn right into the parking garage.

As always, the general meeting starts at 7 PM with food and socializing, and is open to everyone. At about 7:30 we'll start the program with some announcements. We've got another big year of events coming up! Then we'll hear from Portland Kia until about 8:30. I understand that Portland Kia's Master Technician has bought himself an EV6. It's always interesting to hear from an owner, particularly one who also has access to the inside tech info. We'll then socialize for a bit more, say our goodbyes to our EV friends, then head out by 9 PM so the Kia staff can go home. The OEVA board will meet at 6:30, before the general meeting. OEVA members are welcome to attend the board meeting.

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