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- EV Canada Newsletter - Issue #6
EV Canada Newsletter - Issue #6
Weekly Recap Issue #6 - Tuesday, February 22nd, 2022
If you like this rundown/summary of what’s going on with EVs in Canada please share it with someone (or people) that you think might enjoy it as well!
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Canada
The Town of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia have made the decision to add an electric vehicle to its fleet of police patrol cars — a first for Atlantic Canada.
Town council approved the purchase of a Tesla Model 3, as part of its 2022/23 capital budget, during a meeting earlier this week with an expected arrival of April 2022.
The police force of Bridgewater has been looking into purchasing an electric vehicle for a few years now. The supply issues of gas powered vehicles caused by the pandemic, has helped push the force towards an electric vehicle.
“With COVID and the availability of police vehicles, we’ve had issues replacing our cars — our gas fleet — in obtaining them in a timely fashion,” says Police Chief Scott Feener.
According to the police service’s calculations, the cost of the Tesla will be approximately $69,000 plus taxes after it is properly outfitted. That should amount to just over $72,000.
The town will also look for any federal, provincial and municipal grants available to them, which would reduce the price.
Although the price tag is between $10,000 and $15,000 more in initial cost than a standard gas patrol vehicle, but calculations and other jurisdictions indicate that electric vehicles as police vehicles save about $5,000 per year in other expenses. These expenses could include gas and maintenance. In addition, the Tesla is planned to be in operation for two years longer than their current gas powered vehicles.
Mayor David Mitchell called the purchase “exciting” and said while community feedback has been mostly positive, there were some concerns about the initial cost.
“I had a number of people say, ‘Why would you buy a $150,000 car?’ Well, it’s not. It’s not even half that. So if you if you think of Teslas from five years ago, they only had a couple of models. They were very high end, very niche, (had) reliability issues. We are not buying that car,” he said.
“We’re buying a the smaller Model 3 long range. Our police department have done their research, they’ve done their homework, they’ve spoken to other departments, as chief said. And so once you explain that, I think people are quite excited.”
“I see this vehicle as having a large role to play in that because these youth are going to want to check this thing out. And, you know, I think you can put a dollar value on that. So I think I just I don’t want to lose sight of that. I think that’s a really cool,” Mitchell said.
While other police forces in Canada, including Vancouver, have multiple electric vehicles in their fleet, Bridgewater will be one of the rare jurisdictions that will use it as a regular patrol car.
It is also important to note that the council did not decide to purchase this vehicle in lieu of other operational or city expenses.
What is stopping EV adoption in Canada?
A poll conducted by KPMG has found that Canadians are considering electric vehicles for their next purchase but many concerns are holding them back.
According to the KPMG survey, 71% of respondents indicated that they would consider an EV for their next purchase and 49% are more likely to buy one today than they were a year ago.
90% of respondents said they needed to do "a lot more research" to find the EV that is right for them.
These results indicate that a lot more has to be done to move the needle on EV adoption - which hinges on consumer concerns. Consumer concerns are mainly focused around driving range, battery performance in the winter, recharging times, electric grids and incentives.
“We found that Canadians are ready to make the switch to electric, emission-free vehicles but they want to see improvements in infrastructure and trust battery technology in our climate before they fully commit,” said Hatges.
The poll has also shown that the top 3 brands that prospective buys said they are most likely to purchase were Tesla, Toyota and Honda. 62% of respondents said they would prefer to buy an EV from a company specializing in battery-powered automobiles, none of which are manufactured in Canada.
A large number of auto industry executives are expecting tech giants including Alphabet Inc. (Google), Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Huawei Technologies Co., and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to enter the EV Market. The poll found 49% of Canadians would buy an EV made by a major technology company.
“As EV production revs up, the established automakers will need to pay close attention to consumer wants and needs,” said Hatges. “Our poll findings reveal brand loyalty isn’t as strong as automakers might think.”
As indicated by Drive.com, Canadians also want action taken to grow the country’s EV production, and improvements in battery technology will be key to conquering remaining doubts, according to the KPMG report.
“It’s a race to see who can improve battery technology and grab a bigger slice of the market,” said Peter Hatges, KPMG’s national lead on the automotive industry.
The KPMG report found that Canada will need four times the number of public charge points, and the electrical grid’s output will need to expand by 36 per cent to support 20 million EVs by that time.
“Canada has a historic chance to be a leader if key decisions are made now on the needed infrastructure, power generation, battery technology and recycling investment, and key mineral supplies,” said Tammy Brown, KPMG’s national industrial markets leader, in the press release. “A major shakeup is looming in the industry and where Canada falls out has yet to determined.”
Cambrian R&D, the applied research arm of Cambrian College, has secured $1 million in funds toward its proposed battery electric vehicle (BEV) lab in Sudbury.
Cambrian R&D is aiming to assist mining companies shift away from diesel. The proposed lab is one of 150 project Canada-wide to share in $45 million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), an initiative of the federal government.
As reported by Northern Ontario Business, the new lab will be 5,600 square feet, the proposed $2.8-million BEV lab will be part of the Centre for Smart Mining and located within the Glencore Centre for Innovation building at the college’s main campus in Sudbury.
Researchers would work alongside mining industry partners to accelerate the development of vehicle technology and performance testing, while also providing training for future tradespeople to work on battery electric mining vehicles.
Cambrian R&D previously received $250,000 from the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation for the project, and $150,000 from TD for the school’s new BEV maintenance training program.
EV Around the World 🌏
Apterra has provided an update on the development of it's solar powered elecric 3-wheeler.
Aptera took to the track primarily to test ride and handling, conducting a double-lane change maneuver and measuring nosedive under braking. Testers were pleased by the level of stability and lateral grip from the suspension, and will now move on to fine tuning, according to Aptera.
The development team also staged a drag race pitting the alpha and beta prototypes against a Tesla Model 3 and Audi R8—the latter a bona fide supercar. In a video of the race, the R8 and beta prototype appear to be neck-and-neck at the finish line. See the video:
Aptera plans to offer all-wheel drive and front-wheel drive versions using in-wheel motors, with claimed 0-60 mph times of 3.5 seconds and 5.5 seconds, respectively. Those are fairly quick times that should allow the Aptera EV to outrun some sports cars.
A 700-watt solar array will help supplement battery packs up to 100 kwh, allowing a range of up to 1,000 miles in that configuration, Aptera has claimed. While the Aptera has a conventional charge port, Aptera is pitching the 3-wheeler as a "never charge" vehicle that can in daily use with the right conditions be powered primarily from these built-in solar panels.
This vehicle is an evolution of what Aptera hoped to build under the company's original existence from 2006 to 2011. After the original incarnation of Aptera collapsed, three of the founders quietly bought back the intellectual property, refined the vehicle's design, and, in 2019, revived production plans.
Jay Leno recently took the EV for a drive, and got a little more detail on the in-wheel motors and how many miles Aptera expects the to see from the solar roof in real-world driving. Co-CEO Chris Anthony told Leno that 40 miles a day should be achievable in sunny climates, or 20 miles in areas with less-cooperative weather. The video is also extremely informative and can be found below.
The DeLorean DMC is set to make a comeback in 2022! This time around, it will be an all-electric sports car, with an upgraded version of the Back to the Future hero due to be unveiled later this year!
DeLorean confirmed the arrival of a new electric vehicle later this year with the teaser video below, which was shared on Twitter and YouTube - You can watch it HERE.
Although the original DeLorean Motor Company no longer exists, there is still a Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company that is unrelated to the car’s original manufacturer. According to Autocar, the company was founded by British engineer Stephen Wynne, who purchased the rights to the original company’s name and trademark in 1995.
The DeLorean EVolved will be the name of the reinvented DMC. However, it’s unclear whether it’ll be an entirely new design or simply a conversion kit to electrify the original DMC-12.
QuickEV
EV Meme of the Week
