September 2016 – Nevada Electric Vehicle Association

10/1/2016 NASCAR DC Solar 350 “Show & Shine”

Evan Eskelson exhibited his 1987 Aztec 7 kit car sponsored by Odyssey Battery company during Show & Shine car show.

NASCAR staged the DC Solar 350 Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, beginning at 5:30 PM on Saturday, October 1.

On Saturday morning from 10 AM to 3 PM, Star Nursery, KVVU-TV Fox 5, KKLZ-FM radio and the Las Vegas Review-Journal co-sponsored a pre-race festival that included a 2nd annual “Show and Shine” car show to benefit local children’s charities.

Show & Shine Car Show during pre-race festival of NASCAR DC Solar 350, a Camping World Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

There were 211 car entries in the event that raised over $35,000 for Speedway Children’s Charities:

http://lasvegas.speedwaycharities.org/

Rare Kaiser Henry J model car at Show & Shine car show during NASCAR pre-race festival.

This year, the Show & Shine car show included an “Electric Car” category with awards for first and second place judging.

Jim Katzen plugs his vintage 1981 Jet Electrica into a DC Solar trailer to recharge from the sun.

LVEVA members Evan Eskelson, Jim Katzen and Stan Hanel participated in the electric car category of the “Show & Shine” event.

1987 Aztec 7 kit car is styled similarly to a 1980s Lamborghini Countach.

Evan Eskelson exhibited a 1987 Aztec 7 kit car EV conversion, that was sponsored by a donation of ten 12-volt DC batteries from Enersys/Odyssey Battery company.

Rear view of 1987 Aztec kit car EV conversion showing modular design for motor and battery compartment.

The EV conversion has been built on a Volkswagen Bug chassis with a fiberglass body that included gullwing doors. The body shape and style had been modeled after a 1980s Lamborghini Countach car design with a sharp wedge front and foldaway headlights.

Vintage 1981 Jet Electrica electric car built on a modified Ford Escort glider.

Jim Katzen exhibited a vintage 1981 Jet Electrica electric car, built by Jet Industries on a modified Ford Escort glider.

Under the hood of a 1981 Jet Electrica with integrated charging system for both traction pack and auxiliary pack batteries.

An integrated charging system recharges both the traction battery pack and the auxiliary pack through one central electronics unit.

DC Solar provided portable ChargePoint CT4020 AC Level 2 stations and 110 VAC outlets mounted on trailers that were powered by photovoltaic solar panels and a storage battery pack to recharge the electric cars.

Both electric cars at the Show & Shine event were able to recharge their traction battery packs from sunshine while exhibiting at the car show.

DC Solar also sponsored the DC Solar 350 NASCAR Camping World Truck series race that night, that included a chase competition among the top eight NASCAR truck series drivers.

DC Solar power generation trailers were also used to provide LED tower lighting to multiple locations around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway complex.

DC Solar trailers also supplied power to a Busch Beer Garden and other vendor exhibits during the pre-race festival.

Video billboards with changing advertising displays could also be mounted on a DC Solar trailer and powered from the photovoltaic solar panels and battery backup power systems attached to the trailer.

The Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association participated in the annual National Drive Electric Week from September 10 – 18, 2016 by sponsoring a local gathering of electric car owners at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve on Saturday, September 10th from 10 AM to 2 PM:

https://driveelectricweek.org/event.php?eventid=590

The Las Vegas event was staged in the parking lot beneath a photovoltaic solar canopy that tracks the sun as it provides power to two ChargePoint stations. Four SAE J1772 AC Level 2 charging ports were available to visiting electric cars during the event at no cost.

A gallery of pictures from the EVent can be found below.

Collaborating organizations and co-sponsors included Nissan, NV Energy, Springs Preserve, Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, Clean Energy Project, Las Vegas Tesla Owners, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, DC Solar, Verdek, ChargePoint, and ClipperCreek.

DC Solar and Las Vegas Motor Speedway provided an additional Chargepoint CT4020 AC Level 2 station with two ports.

The ChargePoint station was mounted on a trailer with two photovoltaic solar panels that could be adjusted to different angles to track the sun. A backup battery pack and gasoline generator were available to provide supplemental power from the trailer.

The third annual “Electric Juice Bar Crawl” featured a caravan of electric vehicles that toured local public recharging station sites in Las Vegas, as well as offered rides to visitors.

ClipperCreek donated a model HCS-40 SAE J1772 AC Level 2 EVSE charging station that was raffled to support LVEVA educational outreach efforts.

Jason and Marci Semerau, owners of a Nissan LEAF, were the winners of the Clipper Creek charging station.

Refreshments and beverages were by the LVEVA, SolarNV, and Verdek, LLC during the event.