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Hi All:

___I know many of us just finished up with Hybridfest 2006 but it’s time to put the next get together on the radar screen given it is only 3 weeks away. Let me pass on what Bradlee and Justin Fons sent out to the MHG members.



Hello to all MHG members,

Boy it's great to talk with you again. It seems that it's been awhile but our last get together was the Gathering at Miller Park just last month. But Justin and I have been so busy with Hybridfest it may just seem like a long time. It's good to be back with you.

First, I want to say thank you to the members that came to the event. You were part of a memorable time that we all will have to share with our other members. I also want to thank the many members who also volunteered. I know I could count on you and you did us proud. There was a lot of talk at Hybridfest about our group and many people were impressed and envious on how we have grown in such a short time. Our success and growth has been your doing.

Second, we'll be working on setting up a meeting with those members who had expressed an interest in pursuing legislation in Madison. After Justin and I meet with Curt Pawlisch of CWPB, it appears that we are on the ground floor of what can be done. CWPB has no plans to date and is totally open to suggestions. Please let me know if you have not done so, if you want to get involved.

Lastly, we're looking at setting up our next formal meeting on Saturday August 19 at the Oak Creek Public Library from 10am to 12pm. Once again well have a pot luck from 12-1 pm. We hope you can attend. Please let us know if there are any topics that you would want discussed.

We thank you for all your support and remember to keep workn'it.

Bradlee Fons
The Milwaukee Hybrid Group
milwaukeehybridgroup.com
___The Oak Creek Public Library is a great place for a group meet. The meet is open to new and/or experienced hybrid and non-hybrid owners alike to learn about hybrids via discussion between owners and non-owners alike. I have yet to attend a group meet in which we did not all have a great time. Getting together with old friends as well as meeting new ones is always a great experience in my book.

___Because HF 2006 was so hectic for me; I am actually looking forward to the next MHG meet as it is a lot smaller, a lot slower paced, and much quainter. The smaller atmosphere allows everyone to intermingle with one another much easier.

___Debbie, I promise to bring something to remove that excess oil this time around too ;)

___If you would like read what the MHG group is all about or would like to be added to the MHG mailing list, you can visit them on the web at Milwaukee Hybrid Group (http://milwaukeehybridgroup.com/) and/or sign up for their Electronic News Letter via their Contact page at the following: Milwaukee Hybrid Group - Contact Us (http://milwaukeehybridgroup.com/Contact_Us.html)

___Good Luck and I hope to see you there.

___Wayne

I would be interested in going. I have it on my calendar but feel that it's a total waste to drive all the way to Milwaukee alone in my car, burning fuel, in support of saving fuel.

Oh woe is me! If only I knew someone who lived close to me that I could carpool with.

On an unrelated topic: I really wish I had some time with someone who could work with me on hypermiling: perhaps about an hour on back-roads and also on an interstate.

Hi Tony:

___If we split the cost between Tom, you, and myself, that comes out to about … Oh, maybe $1.00 each and 1.5 gallons of fuel! We usually hold driving clinics at the meets afterwards to help improve the new visitors FE and that alone saves thousands of gallons over their lifetimes so I look at it as a very quick payoff. Bradlee asked me to do a quick overview of the HF2006 presentation for those that may have missed it and that might help as well?

___Let us get together for a clinic sometime next week. Tonight I am heading out to the suburbs to go see “Who killed the Electric Car” and then 4 night shifts in a row :( Next week during my night to day shift recovery, we can do something if you would like? I know some pretty cool roads in and around Wadsworth to have a little fun on :D

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wayne,
I was trying to subtly suggest that we carpool up to Milwaukee which would also facilitate the driving clinic.

Perhaps too subtle.

Hi Tony:

___I caught it ;) There are always a few of us from Illinois heading up to the MHG events and now that Bradlee has found Oak Creek Library to be receptive to all of us getting together at that locale, it is a lot closer then heading up to Madison or the far North side … Some of the best people I have ever met show up at the meets and I look forward to meeting them again and again.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi All:

___We were just talking in chat and I realized there was not an address posted for the Oak Creek Public library?

___Here is their web site, address, and phone number.

Oak Creek Public Library (http://www.mcfls.org/ocpl/)

Oak Creek Public Library
8620 South Howell Avenue
Oak Creek, Wisconsin 53154
(414) 764-4400

___Good Luck

___Wayne

___Debbie, I promise to bring something to remove that excess oil this time around too ;)


Thanks, Wayne, but I'm not going to be able to make the August meeting :( - we're going to be back in Mad-town that weekend for a family reunion.

Maybe in September?

We will be having a pot luck lunch after the meeting which is being arranged by 2 members of our group, so be sure to stick around to talk and enjoy a good meal.




We encourage new members to try to attend because you’ll learn so much, guaranteed!



Milwaukee Hybrid Group Meeting Agenda, No.5

Saturday, August 19, 2006

9am to 1pm



Oak Creek Public Library (see link below)

8620 S. Howell Avenue

Oak Creek, WI. 53154

414-764-4400



9:00 – 10:00 (60min) Outdoor gathering and informal discussion

10:00 – 10:10 (10min) Sign-in

10:10 – 10:20 (10min) Introductions and sharing

10:20 – 10:25 (5 min) Opening comments

10:25 – 10: 40 (15 min) Hybridfest

10:40 - 11:00 (20min) Hypermiling

11:00 – 11:15 (15min) Hybrid legislation

11:15 – 11:30 (15min) Q and A

11:30 – 11:45 (15min) Wrap-up and the future

11:45 – 12:00 – Pulse/Glide and driver training

12:00 – 1:00 – Pot luck lunch


http://tinyurl.com/o49vv



As usual, we encourage you to bring your spouse or a friend interested in hybrid vehicles. These are your meetings so please bring your enthusiasm, experiences, questions and comments to share with others. We hope you can attend and stay for lunch.



We look forward to seeing you all again.

Hi All:

___Of course Tom and I forgot to bring our cameras but to bring some up to date, the Milwaukee Hybrid Group was another spectacular success from my perspective! Justin, please send me pics of whatever you have because we really need them …

___We had 2 CleanMPG members all the way from Elkhart, Indiana (DiamondLarry and his son), a new south side of Chicago member (Exbauer), an Insighter from Peoria, IL. who I unfortunately do not remember his name, a grand total of 32 individuals including some from up near the Madison area plus a young man and his family doing a term paper on hybrid automobiles. They currently own a Suburban but I think I have them considering a Dual-Mode Tahoe XL for next year ;). I do not what to exclude at least 6 new members/drivers who showed up to learn what the Milwaukee Hybrid Group meet was all about. Besides the great discussions covering a multitude of hybrid, transportation, technology, and political policy related topics, the great meal, and meeting up of old and new friends alike, many of us had the opportunity to take out some of the newer drivers for FE clinics near the end of the event as well. Always a highlight for me!

___Something I forgot to mention in this post this morning was that Justin was in the parking lot taking tire pressures of all the hybrids that showed up. With the pressures recorded, her had a nice form with license tags so that the owner could see where they are and where they might consider taking their new hybrids to shortly after the meet was over. Justin and Bradlee, let me thank you both for taking the time to make this a staple of the Milwaukee Hybrid Group meet given it is one of the most important and easy item to repair to help someone with lower FE to get better …

___The first clinic included Justin who had to leave early for work but with a small school parking lot across the street; our mini-clinic in that small parking lot yielded a solid 144.6 mpg in his father’s Insight over just 1.3 miles from dead cold. Randall and I have something kind of special being planned for early October and Justin needed a touch of refresher training to bring him up to speed … given the short distance, from dead cold, and in the unorthodox parking lot we were practicing in, he is definitely ready for whatever the future may hold :D

___I was also very fortunate to be able to take out 2 newer HCH-II drivers. The owner of the HCH-II whose car we drove had the best tire pressure setup (40 all around) but needed help on bringing up the i and aFCD’s since nobody at the dealership had bothered to teach her how to bring them up or even why they were there! Shame on that Honda dealership as she has been literally driving blind since she drove off the lot!!! Once the i and aFCD’s were up and running, I saw she was at a relatively healthy 44.9 mpg over ~ 750 miles in her brand new HCH-II. She was fortunately a very conservative driver to begin with which certainly helped. Because of her newness to the ways of the HCH-II, we concentrated on basic and conservative techniques as well as how to handle charge/assist and acceleration rates (no advanced EV-Glide modes needed here). She ended up at what I thought was a very nice 62.x mpg segment after ~ 10 miles from dead cold. With Tarabell’s excellent HCH-II article which should be in her hands in the not to distant future, she can only improve mightily! The next driver (Lauralee) was a previous Civic CRX HF owner from years gone by and although she has never seen south of 50 in her own relatively new HCH-II, (she will now ;)) she had the EV/Glide modes figured out in less then 15 minutes all the while being slammed by stop light after stop light along the suburban type roadway in front of the library the meet was held at. She ended up at a wonderful 68.x something after 10 + miles of this traffic light to traffic light type condition during her run and I could not have been more proud. There is a lot more FE still available to her once she sets up her own HCH-II … hopefully that was accomplished within 10 minutes of arriving home after the meet ;) I hope to hear of her exploits in the near future because she certainly has a gift without much help from me. To add … another mile or so and she would have punched through 70 as we had a hard stop because of fast moving traffic from a light just before turning into the library while in EV with 6 bars of SoC still showing … I know this is simply my excuse but she really picked up the more advanced built in techniques quickly.

___Tony Schaefer took a new Prius II driver out and brought him up into the 68 + mpg range without much in the way of doing anything other then teaching him how to P&G in this individuals own brand new Prius II. I believe Bradlee as well as Bob and Jane took 2 other new Prius II owners out and performed similarly …

___Overall, we had 6 new members that were surviving with brand new Prius and HCH-II’s with low to mid 40 segments and tanks who are now able or at least have seen how 60 - 70 mpg very short segments are achieved. This was not just one lesson to be forgotten, but an education that will hopefully last a lifetime as those vehicles where driven yesterday afternoon.

___I wanted to make mention of a another highlight which had to do with Bob and Jane’s improvements over the many months since they received their own Prius II … I remember their first meet and both were struggling with that new owner - low to mid 40’s - this must be ok - Prius II blues … Most of us have certainly been in this exact predicament at some point in the past but yesterday I heard both of them say that 60 + mpg tanks are more the norm with a recent 60 + mpg vacation (tank) they had just received a few weeks prior! When asked by their peers at their respective work locations about their Prius II, the accolades keep coming given not only the 60 + mpg segments and tanks (Jane is currently sitting on a 63.x mpg tank while nearing low fuel right now), she is still hungry for more! They are now both true ambassadors as Bradlee likes to describe them all the while convincing others within their circle of acquaintances to purchase fuel efficient hybrids while teaching those same acquaintances how to receive the fuel economy that Hybrids are certainly capable of. IIRC, Bob was actually teaching his boss how to P&G in his brand new Prius II at the clinic yesterday afternoon! I hope he gets a nice raise because of it :D Either way, their story is an astonishing one given where they came from to where they are today.

___The get together itself, the discussion, the stories, and the clinics are what get me excited when thinking about going to the Milwaukee and Madison Hybrid Group meets and yesterdays like all the rest was another I will place in my memory as another great success. I already cannot wait for the next one and I hope newer members will consider coming to visit one in their location as well.

___Good Luck to you and all and thanks to all that took the time to make this event one of the best. I most certainly had a great time … Lower Back issues and all ;)

___Wayne

I'm the one from Peoria. I arrived there with 65mpg. After I found out that my tire pressure was low, I filled up to 44 and was able to arrive back home with 70mpg for 550.7 miles driven and a 3rd of a tank to go. the best ever. I've learned alot between hybridfest and yesterday. Thanks a lot to all. Now if I can remeber how to move pic's from cell to web,I'll send a snap to you.:woot:

I'm glad all the ranting about tire pressure was useful. It is the most often overlooked item.

I think wayne's karma rubs off on people after the meetings. I think just being in waynes presence is worth about 2mpg as well ;)

Hi Frisch41:

___I have read some of your posts around the net and I will be sure to spend some time talking shop the next time we get together! Some of us are a bit thick in the head to realize who we are really speaking with (that was me ;)) even if it was for just a minute or two! Great job on the round trip commute and I look forward to meeting you again in the not to distant future!

___If you have any pics of value, you can send them to my home E-Mail Waynegerdes@db3broadband.com because without a camera (I have not been thinking entirely clearly over the past week or so), I have nothing to show the rest of our members about the event. Bradlee had a great display board with a ton of hybrid and general information up that should have been highlighted even more then it was as well as all the handouts …

___Good Luck and thanks in advance for whatever you have available.

___Wayne

Hi All:

___Justin just sent me the pics he had taken so hopefully those that could not attend will get the feel for what a gathering like this is all about …

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/511/Lots_of_Prius_of_course.jpg
The Hybrid’s!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/511/2_FEH_s_side_by_side.jpg
When or should I say how rarely do you ever see 2 FEH’s parked side by side other then at a group meet or event?

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/511/Massive_Information_Display.jpg
Poster board with HF2006 pics and a massive amount of information on a wide range of topics!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/511/Manufacturer_handouts.jpg
Manufacturer data and brochures for those interested in their first or even their next hybrid!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/511/Even_more_information_for_attendees.jpg
Topic Specific information covering a wide range of possiblities.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/511/Term_paper_report_son_and_family.jpg
This is the young man I wrote about earlier doing the hybrid term paper through HF2006 and his first MHG Meet along with his family.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/511/Everybody_but_Justin_who_took_the_pic.jpg
And of course the entire group of attendees minus Justin who took the pic.

___All in all, a great turn out, great discussions, great get together, and I personally had a great time. I hope those that attended did as well!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Thanks for all your support Tom and Wayne and cleanmpg, we could not be growing as large as we are without you.


Hello MHG members and friends,
>
> On behalf of Justin and myself I want to say thank you to all who attended our meet yesterday in Oak Creek. I'm overjoyed to tell you all that, though we were expecting 20-25 to attend, we had 39! That's our largest meet to date. We had 15 new members and friends to their very first meet, 9 members and friends up from Illinois and even Indiana. In addition we had the opportunity to take 7 new members out for training. We had a Metro driver and a Saturn driver both getting over 50mpg in attendance. We had a high school freshman, Bryan (the survey guy) doing a report on hybrid ownership and it's future, there with his family. We had Rees Roberts who just had knee replacement less than 1 month ago there. Wayne Gerdes and Tom Baleno from CleanMpg and Tony Schaefer from Priuschat all made it up from Chicago, again. All in all a great meet!
>
> I'll be sending out minutes to you this week for those that could not attend. We shared experiences and successes (the Cherneys are into the 60-65mpg range with their Prius and Justin hit a 146mpg in training run in his Insight with the help of Wayne). We then talked and talked and talked about hypermiling, EPA, tire pressures, global warming, legislation and even politics. Our meeting was from 10 to 12 however we did not get out until almost 2:00pm. Bobb and Jane Cherney organized and served the pot luck meal and even though we had only 2 meat dishes (one being Chicago hot dogs), all were well fed and happy. Special thanks to the Cherney's.
>
> For those that missed it, try to make our next meet, because these meets are getting really, really good and informative. We were so happy we could take the new members out for some training runs and hope all the new members who have not made it to a meet will do so soon. You'll be impressed with how much you can learn and then improve with your vehicles mileage. We're here to help you.
>
> A reminder about our meeting with the Madison law firm this Saturday at the Pewaukee Public Library. It'll be from 9:30 to about 11:00 and we'll be looking at options in getting some hybrid/AF legislation going in the Wis. state senate and house. If you would like to attend and give us your 2 cents and have not contacted us about coming please do so. I'll be sending out info and directions this week too.
>
> One last thing we talked about was coming up with a member list, by vehicle type, that we could share with our each other and our new members. This would give new owners a chance to talk with more experienced owners without having to wait for a meet to do so. Please email us with your thoughts on this "mentoring" opportunity. The other option would be to ask for several volunteers. by vehicle make, who would be willing to answer questions and give advise to new owners in between meets. Let us know what you think.
>
> That's it for now. It was quite a day on Saturday and as always Justin and I thank you for all your support of us and each other and keep workn'it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bradlee Fons
> The Milwaukee Hybrid Group
> milwaukeehybridgroup.com

I don't know Bradlee. Sometimes I feel like we are leaching off you! Your the guy out talking to people. I think you are going to have to take a survey to get an idea how many people are coming to your meeting. Someday you are going to have 100 people there and you won't know where to put them. Even with the large room the table was pretty much full and I had to sit in the overflow section ;)

I think the meetings are getting better and better, because there are people that learned a few meetings ago that can now share their experiences. This helps reduce the initimidation factor I think. The new people can relate more to someone thats only a few mpg ahead of them.