[EVDL] Historic Haul?

Got a question for the long-time EV'ers on the list...

On Wednesday, the Illuminati Motor Works Seven
(www.illuminatimotorwordrove from Divernon IL (just South of
Springfield) to participate in Sustainability Week at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It's a little over 100 miles one-way.

BUT because of the high winds the day before, a scheduled participant
(Tow Weis, of www.rideforrenewables.com) who is riding to Washington DC
to petition Congress and the President for 100% renewable by 2020 (go to
his website to sign the petition) was unable to make the trip from
Springfield->Champaign on his electrified Go-One. He sent me an e-mail
to cancel.

I remembered at the X PRIZE seeing a trailer hitch on Seven. So I
e-mailed IMW's team leader Kevin Smith and asked if he and George could
trailer the Go-One to C-U as well as give Tom a ride so he could make
the presentations. Kevin borrowed his Uncle's trailer that was normally
pulled by a garden tractor and then stayed up until 2a fixing the
lights, finding the right ball, re-engineered the trailer a bit so it
had a 2x8 board sticking out the back for the Go-One's rear wheel...
then left at 6am to pickup George and Tom...

...and then drove IMW's all-electric Seven 100 miles to
Champaign on Interstate 72 *at Interstate speeds* with 600-700 pounds of
cargo inside the vehicle (three big guys and gear) while towing another
EV. At one point Kevin got to chatting with Tom and looked down at the
speedo and was going 70mph. Still at well-over 100 MPGe.

So my question is, do you guys know of anything else like this in EV
history?

Thanks,
[email protected]

Matt Childress
Illinois Electric Vehicle Syndicate
www.illinois.edu/goto/twike

ps. One of the sad things I learned at this year's Sustainability Week
from attending author Jeff Biggers (www.jeffrbiggers.com)
performance/talk about his family history of coal mining in Southern
Illinois was how absolutely nasty coal mining is. I always knew this,
but was able to salve my guilt by saying "I use less electricity than an
average house my size in my neighborhood AND I drive an EV!"

Burning coal may become cleaner, but there will never be such a thing as
CLEAN COAL. But for most of us both the mines and the power plants are
out-of-sight, out of mind. While it is true that electric cars -- even
when fueled off the grid -- are SOOOO much better than petrol cars it's
a no-brainer, it is also true that coal mining takes a HUGE toll on the
environment and the health of our fellow Americans, even if the coal
mines are not in your back yard. As Jeff said, every time you turn on a
light, somebody's paying the cost. All too often with their lives. The
Chilean miners got so much coverage because they were buried AND saved.
This is new (ie, doesn't normally happen), so it is news. Getting our
country off fossil fuels, of which coal is one, is also a 'no-brainer'.


Please take a moment to go to rideforreneables.com and sign Tom's
petition so that by 2020 we all can plug in anywhere and get clean,
zero-emissions electricity to fuel your zero-emissions ride.

_______________________________________________
| REPLYING: address your message to [email protected] only.
| Multiple-address or CCed messages may be rejected.
| UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
| OTHER HELP: http://evdl.org/help/
| OPTIONS: http://lists.sjsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/ev