SEVA meeting minutes for April 14, 2026

[Grace Reamer]

Seattle Electric Vehicle Association

Meeting minutes for April 14, 2026

SEVA President Stephen Johnsen called the meeting to order on a rainy night at the MASA synagogue in the Old Rainier Brewery Building in Seattle.

NEW MEMBERS - Terry and Lisa are looking for dual charger options for their 2016 Kia Soul EV and Kia Sportage. Korby has a 2022 Chevy Bolt.

CAR SHOW RECAP - Stephen reported that 11 EVs participated in the Drive Electric Earth Month car show on April 13 at Bellevue College. Larry Ryan brought his converted truck, which was done before the J1772 port was standard, so he made his own adapter to plug into the NEMA 14-50 outlet on site. Mark Schnell’s GMC Denali got lots of attention with its 212kW battery pack. An Oregon EVA member brought his red Juniper Model Y up from Portland with no charging stops. Charlie Tsai's BMW conversion was popular as well as Chad Schwitters’ Brightdrop van with 272 miles of range at highway speeds. SEVA members talked to lots of students and staff and gave out plugin America’s new buyers guide at the show.

EVENTS:

• May 1 car show at Green River College during Switch Rally with HS kids and a few college students. They have room for 10-12 cars. Enrollment opens for fall quarter in the EV tech program on April 30.
• Greenwood Car Show - Charlie is coordinating the SEVA entries for the June 27 show. He wants to start getting names for registration. SEVA will pay fees. The club exhibit probably will be located in front of Ken’s Market again.
• Burien Father’s Day Car Show - Secretary Grace Reamer will send details about participating in the June 21 show during the Strawberry Festival.

CHINESE EVs - Stephen shared a global EV sales chart from 2019-2025. In Norway, 97 percent of new car sales were electric in 2025. Nepal was at 73 percent, then Denmark, Sweden, Iceland and Finland. China was at over 53 percent. U.S. is just at 10 percent. Model Y was the fourth-best selling car in the U.S., behind the F150, Silverado and Ram.

Stephen's presentation covered some history of global oil trade and prices, and noted that U.S. tariffs on Chinese cars have prevented the sale of Chinese EVs here. He will share more soon about his brother's trip to Shenzhen. John Ruhland gave a presentation about his recent visit to Brazil, which is importing Chinese EVs, including BYD, the world's biggest EV maker.

LEAF UPGRADE - Stephen gave a presentation about his 2013 Leaf pack replacement, including some history of EVs and his acquisition of his LEAF from SEVA member Ron Easley. They once raced the LEAF at Laguna Seca in California, and it now has more than 100,000 miles. The battery pack had lost capacity, but he was able to salvage a healthier pack from a 2015 LEAF and do the replacement himself. 

UPDATES:

• Three SEVA members at the meeting have applied for the new retro Keep Washington EVergreen WA EV plate, which will help fund public EV charging installation. Apply for the specialty plate here.
• The Central Washington EV evacuation survey, part of the research by a UW doctoral student, is now live online here.
• MLe auction - Stephen picked up an 800-volt charger. The day after the auction, thieves broke into the shop and used a van to steal some equipment.
• EV Car Insider is conducting its annual Ride and Drive event on May 2 and is looking for a Tesla Model 3 owner to share their car.

NEXT MEETING - Stephen announced that the May 12 meeting will be at MASA again, and the June meeting will be at the U Village west parking garage.