cwu vroom-vroom | thrilla in vanilla | greta's challenge
OUR PROPOSED PROJECTS
We only have 12... 10... 8 years to save the planet. This is our little bit of it.
* We can accept individual project sponsorships or donations in addition to our sponsorship tiers. Please read our sponsorship letter.
"The climate crisis has already been solved. We already have the solutions. All we have to do is wake up and change."
- Greta Thunberg
As advocates for, and educators of EVs and EV Infrastructure, CWUEVC, in partnership with other clubs and orgs, have taken on several serious projects here at Central Washington University.
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The Antique Pump Chargers Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: December, 2019
One of our members was walking past a bank of old antique gas pumps at a shut-down gas station, and had the unique idea to remove the innards and transform that antique into a charger of its own! How cool is that? We think it's fucking awesome! It will also be one little quirky thing that gets us noticed.
The Canal Turbine Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: Early 2017
A river runs through it. Or, in this case, a canal.
Directly through the center of this Ellensburg, Washington, university campus, there is an irrigation canal used to provide water to the many hundreds of square miles of farmland that sit along its route.
It is the purpose of this project to design, create, and maintain a system of micro-river turbines along this canal's route, and to be a testbed for advanced micro-river turbine technologies.
We are proposing to work in partnership with the IEEE at CWU.
The Cars Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: September, 2019
This university should be applauded with one hand for its efforts to recognize that Electric Vehicles have benefits and adopting several Electric Vehicles within its fleet, but should be slapped with the other for not having converted every vehicle on campus.
We're talking about EVERY vehicle here - if it runs on gasoline or diesel, it's part of the problem.
ANY VEHICLE CAN BE CONVERTED.
The purpose of this project is to work with ASME, the ASCWU, and the University to convert every functioning University-business vehicle to either fully electric, or fully hydrogen. Electric is better because its cheaper and less complicated.
The Powerbank Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: October, 2019
"Scheduled blackouts are a new reality for Californians, when the system fails us taking control of our energy supply is the only way." - Jehu Garcia
Micro Grid energy technology is the way of the future of energy storage. We don't want to live in a society where regulated brown-outs and black-outs force us to cease innovation. Renewable energies need somewhere to be stored, and the more Micro Grid tech we have installed on-site, the less strain we put on the Grid at large.
We are lucky, here in Washington State, to have some of the best PUDs and Utility companies in the world. We are also luck to have so much hydro and wind in this state, but micro-grid technologies will mean that more and more of society will end their dependence on non-renewable energy resources. We are proposing to work with the local PUD and IEEE on this project.
The EV Charger Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: September, 2019
Currently, the only EV Chargers on the grounds of Central Washington University are for STAFF and University-Owned vehicles.
There is literally a substation inside one of our parking lots. The two level one chargers on the fence are for Ellensburg City vehicles only.
While it is admirable that the University has a fully electric mail van, and the keeper of the Greenhouse drives a Tesla - these actions alone are NOT ENOUGH. NOT NEARLY ENOUGH.
It is the purpose of this project to rectify the lack of an EV Charging Infrastructure at this university. We will be proposing to work with Campus Facilities, ASCWU, IEEE, and other departments to install Electric Vehicle chargers at CWU to be available for use by students and visiting members of the public.
The Solar Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: September, 2019
There are dozens of parking lots on this campus. Wide, open terrain that for the majority of the year have hours and hours of direct southern-facing sunlight every day.
We are proposing that covered walkways be installed in the larger parking lots - the roofs of which will be made out of solar panels only.
We are proposing to work in partnership with the IEEE at CWU.
The Low-Income EV Conversion Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: October, 2019
We believe that everyone should have access to EVs. The word that the automotive industry uses to define the absorption rate of new technologies is "Penetration." 🍆 As both an educational and an advocacy program, it behooves our vision of society to see the people who can't afford current marketplace EV technology, to still have access to the future of motion. We're not waiting for prices to drop. We're going to make it happen anyways.
In Seattle, Dave Cloud was able to convert his "Dolphin" to fully electric over a decade ago for under 5,000 U.S. Dollars, and he was able to get a 300 mile charge from that. In Ireland, Damien MacGuire was able to convert a BMW to fully electric for UNDER 1,000 EUROS. It is possible.
Learning how to do things better is one of the key points of engineering. Learning how to do the same exact thing for less money is one of the key points of humanity.
The PaveGen Project
THIS PROJECT WAS PROPOSED: October, 2019
Pavegen, or "Pavement Generation," is a trademarked word, but there is also no other single word to accurately describe this concept.
People walk. These boots was made for walking. As people - hundreds of people daily in many cases - do that walking they create kinetic momentum as their feet hit the sidewalks. Or, as they call them over in the U.K.: the pavement.
That is a lot of energy that is lost in transit. Imagine if you could generate electricity from the energy of all those feet hitting the ground.
That's what PaveGen is. We'd like to do that here.
