Happy Spring, everyone!

Since we started thinking about the EV University project a couple of years ago, a lot of things have happened, a lot has changed. It is 2011, and gas prices are heading through the roof, unemployment is higher than I can ever remember it being, and automakers are building electric cars. I'm happy about the last part, but there's still a place for conversions, and there's still a place for people taking their transportation needs into their own hands! You never know when the automakers are going to remember that they're wealthy, have politicians in their pocket, and decide to act in their own interests rather than ours and yank their EVs out from under us. Right?

So I have this dream for EV University, that it should become a place for our home-brewed experts to share what they know, so that knowledge isn't lost and so that the newcomer doesn't have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. Why learn the hard way with expensive components when there are people who already have experience with building EVs?

There are now so many of you who are wanting EV University to open and become a reality. But because of hard economic times, the instructors have been having to scramble to keep food on their own tables, and haven't been able to devote the time they'd like to building their classes.

At the same time, I am appalled by how employers are treating job applicants these days. What happened to the human spirit to pull together in times of need? I know a lot of you must be unemployed, and my heart goes out to you. Revolutions are happening all over the world because the wealthy elite forgot about the people that make their world possible. Shameful!

So here's my idea. If there are some of us that have built an electric car before, and you have the time, come lead a "lab" class. (That means a closed discussion group, very practical-oriented, looking at people's conversion projects and answering questions and such.) Hit "reply" and send me a link to your EV on the EV Photo Album.

If there are people who are currently unemployed or underemployed, and whose resumes are suffering from a big blank spot where a job should be...we could use some help. Especially building a library of links to valuable EV information that's on the Internet, or supporting an instructor with your web skills or video editing skills or whatever. Right now we can't offer you money, unfortunately, but we can offer you some work, officially, in the form of an internship. We NEED your skills. Hit "reply" if you're interested.

If you have administrative skills, I could especially use your help, because my talents apparently don't lie in that direction; )

Because we're all in this boat together, I'd like for all tuition to be on a "pay what you can" basis, at least for now. All, as in 100%, of the proceeds will go into the hands of the instructors, because their time and expertise is valuable and people have to eat. It's only right.

So, what do you say? Shall we get this little boat afloat?