SF BEAR II, The MG Story

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Last year's EVent (as we, EV people call them), was a lot of fun and quite an adventure. So I was looking forward to this year's EVent as well: The second annual San Francisco Bay Electric Auto Rally (SF BEAR) and Clean Air Fair. I had the same problem this year as last year; how will I get my range-challenged electric MG Midget to the City, 43 miles away? Last year Otmar towed me with his Electric Pickup truck, as I mentioned, quite an adventure and lot of fun (see my account of the 1995 SF BEAR, at: SF BEAR rally 1995 Otmar's truck was not going this year so I had to figure out another way to get there.

The MG is presently running on a donated set of batteries that are three years old. These batteries came from Clare Bell's 914 Porsche, that had been raced for a year before we got them; hens the range is not as good as it should be. Maybe now is the time to get new batteries. I looked into this and found that I had started too late. The new batteries would get here a week before the rally. This would be a heroic effort to install and cycle them at least 10 times before the rally. As they say: "Been there, done that". I had recently put in a great effort to convert a Saturn in less then seven weeks to race in Phoenix, Arizona in March, and had enough of heroic efforts for a while.

So, since I was not getting towed there, and the MG could not get there on one charge, I figured that I would trade a heroic new battery effort for a logistical, charge as you go, driving adventure. I would have to find a place to charge about half way up and half way back. As it turned out, Will Beckett was also looking for a half way charging point and suggested that I call the Coyote Point Museum where he had arranged charging for his EV. I called up the museum and made the arrangements. Bill Mckensy who was the contact there said OK, but that he did not want a whole bunch of EVs there. I assured him that this was just between him, Will and myself.

This would work for the drive up, but I would still need a place to charge on the way down. Not wanting to push my luck with the museum, and not knowing if they would be open Saturday night, I made arrangements to charge at a friends house on the way back. Now that this was set, I had the following itinerary/plan: I would drive up to the museum Friday morning, charge and then get up to rally charging station that night. The next day I would do the rally and then charge that afternoon. At about 7:00 that night, I would head back and plug in at my friend's house and then take the train home. Sunday morning I would take the train back to Lori's house and drive the MG home. Simple! ;-)

As it turned out I had this Friday off, so I would not even miss a day of work. I left at 8:25 Friday morning with my bike in the MG so that I could get around when the MG was charging. I timed it just right to catch the tail end of the rush hour, so as to reduce my speed and conserve my energy. This also had the benefit of high visibility for the MG which has "It's Electric" signs front and back. The drive to the museum went well and I had plenty of juice to get up the hill to the loading dock where I was able to plug in. I talked to the folks at the museum for a while and then went for a bike ride. I got back and toured the museum, which I recommend. They had a good display about pollution in and around the Bay and they have a good conservation approach to the rest of the museum.

At about 3:30 I unplugged the MG and made my way to the City. I had planned to meet a friend on the near side of town and catch an opportunity charge for about an hour while we visited. This worked out OK except that I was late in getting there, stuck in Friday after noon traffic. EVs will not solve the congestion problem, unless you take your EV to the mass transit system. After some Frisbee in the alley, I made my way across town to Crissy Field and to the charging station for the rally. Mike and Henry greeted me as I drove the MG into the large building were it would be re-juiced for the next day's rally. I pushed the button to start the charger and then got my bike out and put it together for the ride back across town to where I would be staying.

EVs are great, but it is hard to beat a bike for across town rush hour trips, even on San Francisco's hectic streets. I made my way to the Holiday Inn were I had won a free night stay from last year's rally. After checking in I walked to the Justin Herman plaza to see the Olympic torch ceremony as the Olympic torch made it's way across the country. After the ceremony and dinner it was time to head back for the long day ahead.

I got up before dawn to make sure I would get to the charging station when it opened at 6:00 AM. I wanted to make sure the MG was topped off and ready to go. I left in time to make a short jaunt up to Coit tower to see the sun rise. It was nice to ride the streets of San Francisco when they are empty. I got to the charging station about 6:30 and had to wait a bit for someone to open up. I found that the MG was still charging and that the batteries were nice and warm, just what I wanted for a long day. I road off to get breakfast and start the day.

As I returned from breakfast I could see the EVs starting to roll in. I got the MG and made it over to the starting point. Each participant had their picture taken with the Golden Gate bridge in the back ground. This photo would be the prize for participation. I got in line and watched as the other EVs came in. There was a little bit of every thing there. PG & E brought their Honda and Toyota proto-type cars, there were a couple of Pivco City Bees from the east bay Sybase/BART station car program, a very nice black Porsche Spyder replica, the Tropica and a whole host of other cars. In short everything from Wild Evolution's Land Rover and bright yellow street rod, to Citi-Cars and a three wheeler neighborhood EV, the Citi-el. We even had the Stanford "After Burner" and CAL Berkeley "California Dreamin'" solar cars there on display. This was quite the EVent, indeed.

It took awhile for the EVs to get lined up, but that was OK. Channel 7 news was there interviewing Will Beckett in his Chevy S-10 Blazer and Clare Bell in her "Black Magic" 914 Porsche. In the mean time, the rally officials were running the EVs through their check list; how many batteries, what type, wiring check, brake light check, turn indicators, insurance, etc. There was the drivers meeting and route review and then the call of "Drivers to your cars". They were also asking if there was any extra space in the EVs for passengers. I gave Gary Flo of Mendo Motors a ride. I was doing the short route again this year so we just went across the Golden Gate bridge to the vista point and back.

This year the weather was great, and view from the vista point was classic San Francisco, without the fog! We spent a short time at the vista point and then came back. I let Gary drive on the way back and we wondered if we could talk our way out of the toll. No harm in trying, but alas, no luck ether. The new Auburn controller makes the MG much peppier and Gray was impressed. When we got back to the starting point there were still plenty of people around as not all of the EVs went on the rally. There were about 10 cars on display. I had plenty of juice left so I was giving rides and doing the EV talk, answering: how far, how fast and how long to charge.

There was a round of applause as the first bunch of EVs returned from the three bridge route. The returning EVs gave me a brake as they entertained the public and gave rides to those that were interested. There were awards for the EVs that delivered "clean air" to the cities they passed through and got their "passport" stamped. There were also awards for the most amount of pledges collected for the American Lung Association (ALA) and a drawing that benefited the ALA. This time I won a gift certificate to the Fairmont hotel; ah, some place new! I took the MG back to the charging area at about 2:30. This would ensure I was charged and ready to go by about 7:00 PM that evening.

After dinner I road my bike back down to the charging area for the last time and packed it up to fit in the MG. Bruce [EVangel] Parmenter was at the charging area trying to catch a few ZZZ before he took his EV out on the town that evening. We both unplugged and headed out the gate. The drive through the City and to my friends house was uneventful. I caught a ride back home and then took the train up the next morning as planned. The drive back down was a little slow at the end to conserve energy, but otherwise OK. As I was unpacking the MG at home, it felt as through I had been away for much longer then two days. This year's SF BEAR was better then last year's, and I will be back next year - with new batteries!

David Coale is the project leader for the Electric Vehicle project at Bay Area Action, a local environmental group in Palo Alto, Ca. The SF BEAR EVent is organized by the San Francisco Peninsula chapter of the Electric Auto Association. SF BEAR web site: http://www.surf.com/~hdeaton/sfbear/

copyright 5-10-96 David Coale.

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