Friday 9 December 2016

Spotted a Bolt in Oshawa!

I wasn't going to post this originally as it was not that interesting and I was kicking myself for not having my go-pro on my bike to show video, but I was out for the last motorcycle ride of the season not too long ago and I spotted a Bolt driving the streets of Oshawa!

I often ride to the dead end loop of Wentworth right beside the GM offices in Oshawa and on this last ride just as I was turning around I spotted it out of the corner of my eye! I of course in a totally non-creepy manner followed it to the highway and then as far as my exit to get back home. Watching it drive was pretty cool, on the streets it looks like a pretty nice car and its attractive enough in its own utilitarian hatchback class that I think it will have decent sales in Canada.

I myself am still holding out for my Model 3, but I have to say, seeing it in person makes it tempting!

Also interesting to note, this is a different colour than the one spotted in Pickering, so that means there are at least two test Bolts roaming the GTA.




Wednesday 5 October 2016

Chevrolet Bolt Spotted in the GTA

WRVoltec on Facebook has spotted the first Chevrolet Bolt in the GTA! More specifically in Pickering! Even more interesting is that it has Ontario plates which means it is probably here to stay a while!

Have you spotted this beautiful blue Bolt yet? I know I am going to keep an eye out, especially as it's presence is gracing the GTA in Durham region where I live.!


Via: Imgur and Facebook

Thursday 1 September 2016

Turn Up The Energy And Turn Down The Crazy

I have been working for the past few weeks on an advocacy post that has required a bunch of research and now learning some HTML. So it has been slow going and the blog has been quiet since, so I thought I would break through the quiet with a quick opinion piece I have been meaning to write for some time now.

I like to consider myself a fairly level headed EV advocate who believes and lives the fact that electric vehicles are the future of sustainable transport. I drive a Volt and I have a low numbered Canadian Tesla Model 3 reservation, but there are some who would consider me a hypocrite because of how my driveway currently looks:



So, what would some consider wrong with this picture?

1) The Volt - Some people look down on the Volt because it is a "Hybrid" and not a "True EV"  - I chose the Volt because I really wanted to go electric, but did not have deep enough pockets for a Tesla Model S and my commute was too long to allow me to purchase a Leaf or any of the other BEVs on the market. I drive it as close to like an EV as I can with my commute being 100% electric in the summer and approximately 70% electric in the winter.

I think any effort to move to a more efficient vehicle, be it an efficient gas car, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or early BEV should be applauded. I have a friend at work that drives 120km one way to work, he bought a Prius as it would use less gas overall than a Volt. Even a Model 3 might not meet his winter time commute needs so I think his choice of a Prius is equally as commendable as my purchase of a Volt or someone else's purchase of a Tesla, Leaf or other BEV.

The transition to fully electric vehicles will come in time, you aren't a horrible person if you have decided a BEV is not yet the right fit for you. Even the Tesla Model 3 and Chevrolet Bolt will probably not meet the needs or financial restrictions of 80% of the North American population. The vehicles that will, will come. After all the purpose of today's EVs and the EVs of the immediate future are, to paraphrase what Elon Musk said about the purpose of Tesla; to advance the adoption of Electric vehicles, not replace every gas car currently known to man immediately. It's a marathon, not a sprint.


2) The Aveo - "AKA. OMG THERE IS A GAS CAR IN YOUR DRIVEWAY!" - That is my wife's car, she is just as much behind an EV future as I am and also holds a Tesla Model 3 reservation; but she earns a bit less than I do and for now, that is the car we can afford for her. it gets OK fuel economy and at almost 200,000km on the clock it doesn't owe us anything. We hope in two years we will be able to afford being a two Tesla household, but for now we will keep that Aveo running and not draw on and additional unnecessary resources to replace it with a new gas car or a temporary electric car solution that we can't really afford.

Thats the reality for lots of gas car owners right now, a current electric vehicle might not tick all the boxes such as affordability, space (my Volt is pretty small and only seats 4), etc. Cars for those people will come and those that swear they will never own an electric car or that an electric car will never meet their needs will come around. Remember, there were people who swore they would never give up the horse and carriage.

3) The Motorcycle - I like riding, it is a fun, exhilarating pastime that helps me de-stress and gives me a gas engine vehicle to maintain and work on as I am still a gear head at heart. There is still something about a gasoline engine connected through a clutch to a manual gear box that brings man together with machine in an completely unexplainable way. I don't get that with my Volt.

Yes, it runs on gas, but I don't put a ton of mileage on it and it is great on fuel, I don't believe that people continuing to use gasoline in recreational pursuits such as motorcycles, ATVs and collector cars are going to destroy the planet, and compelling electric versions of these will come in time. Converting the majority of the commuting vehicles and trucks to electric is what is going to contribute to saving the planet.  I just don't think an electric future involves banning the gasoline engine, they will just end up as recreational toy vehicles for those who can afford it.

There are electric motorcycles out there, but A) I can't afford a $20,000 bike and B) Fast charging bikes don't exist yet taking away the majority of the freedom that comes with owning a motorcycle. I will convert one day, just not yet.

So moving on to the "crazy" I alluded to in the title. There is a subset of "fanatical" EV owners that I feel bring a bad name to the EV crowd. They put stickers on their cars like this:



And this:



And they run poorly formatted, impossible to read websites ranting about electric cars. I won't link to the one I am referring to as I don't wish to send them additional traffic, but they aren't hard to find.

Do the style of the signs remind you of these guys?



If they do, join the club. Unfortunately the few on the fringe tend to be the most visible and most vocal and tend to make the rest of us look like slightly unhinged fanatics when it comes to electric vehicles and in my opinion that only works to slow the advancement and adoption of electric vehicles by the masses.


So how can we turn up the energy on electric vehicle adoption while turning down the crazy?

- Talk, don't argue. AKA Don't feed the trolls. Share your experiences and educate others, but don't start fights and don't get defensive. There are those who you are never going to be able to convince until the day an electric vehicle is the only thing they can drive off the new car lot and there are tons of people for who an electric vehicle simply does not yet work. Most of us made a compromise or two to own the electric vehicle we currently own, we can't expect everyone to. Getting all bent out of shape and angry on internet forums and Facebook helps nobody.

- Lead by example. If you can afford one and can make the compromises necessary to own a current BEV or Plug In Hybrid and are on the fence, take the leap. We need to see more of these cars on the road and in the driveways of our friends and family to make EVs more commonplace and less alien. If you already on a BEV or Plug in Hybrid, take your friends, family and co-workers for rides, it is the least you can do.

- Realize that not everyone can own an electric car, yet. There are many valid reasons to not own an electric car or be planning to buy one in the next 5 years such as cost and functionality. The person who can only afford 5k used cars can't buy an EV right now, the person who needs to haul things in his F-150 for work can't yet buy an electric car and the person who drives most of the day for work and does not yet have convenient L3 charging options available to them can't yet buy an electric car. Vehicles that suit these people will come in time and more attractive looking vehicles will come before that for all the people who's hangup is the "look" of today's EVs. Don't look down on these people and remember the point above. Lead by example and be respectful.

- Push for Charging Infrastructure. Even if you don't own an EV yet, you probably will one day, so why not push for the infrastructure necessary to make EVs successful? Talk to your employer, the owners of the business you frequent and all levels of government in your life and push for them to install chargers on their property. This again plays into visibility that will makes others think that their next car could be an EV and helps others take that necessary "leap"

- Just don't be Crazy!. There is no need to accuse people of willfully poisoning children and destroying the planet. These things don't cross the mind of the average person; the only people we can maybe point that finger at are the coal rolling diesel truck owners and they are a special case.

So lets turn up the energy on EV adoption and turn down the crazy at the same time! Everyone is a future EV owner and we want them on our side, not trying to avoid eye contact with the slightly unhinged crazy guy rambling on the street corner.

Owning an EV without private parking in the GTA

Read the following article from the Toronto Star and get back to me.

Article

OK, you are back and I trust you have read the article. If you haven't, in summary there is a Toronto resident who just purchased a Volt however has no private driveway and has faced numerous hurdles, including fines while attempting to charge his car while parked on the street out front of his house.

Now there is an argument that Todd should have waited to purchase a car until the infrastructure was in place and the car could meet his needs 100%. I will admit it was what I did, as bad as I wanted an electric car, I didn't make the purchase until I moved out of a downtown apartment and bought my own house with private parking in the burbs.

However on the other hand, it takes people like Todd to make the leap even when the climate is not yet 100% right and begin to force the hand of those in power to make the changes necessary, those change in this case is to address the issue of how residents without driveways in Toronto (there are a lot of them) can charge their electric vehicles legally and safely.

This is a serious problem for many potential future EV owners and it is clear from the article that the city is dragging their feet and not taking the issue seriously to a degree I was not even aware of.

I also planned to go more in depth on this with a post much further in the future, but seeing as the issue is in the news right now, lets see if we can give our leaders in Toronto a little push on Twitter to do something about it and not drag their feet and show that there are other EV owners out there that support this.

Retweet the below!



Thursday 28 July 2016

Ontario EVCO Grant Chargers Mapped

Below is a map of the planned EVCO grant chargers, pulled from the MTO website here. This is in relation to this post with a chart showing all the addresses and locations by city.

Yellow = L3
Green = L2 and L3
Blue = L2


More Details on $20 Million EVCO Grant Program Chargers

This is a follow up post to the low level information I broke back in April about where we could expect to see chargers placed as part of the new $20 million Ontario EVCO Grant Program.

I am a little late to the party to publish this as the government posted the information while I was out of the country on July 13th, but the data still has a place on the blog so here it is.

These are the exact locations we can expect to see both L2 and L3 chargers installed in Ontario by March 31st 2017.

City/Town Number of Chargers Location of Chargers
Central Region Level 2: 223
Level 3: 84
Barrie Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 446 Bayfield St.
Beamsville Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 5005 Ontario St.
Beaverton Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 84 Beaverton Ave.
Bolton Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Albion Bolton Community Centre - 150 Queen St. South
Bradford Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 440 Holland St. West
Brampton Level 2: 6
Level 3: 0
Soccer Centre Recreation Facility - 1495 Sandalwood Pkwy. East
Heart Lake Conservation Area - 10818 Heart Lake Rd.
Claireville Conservation Area - 8180 Hwy 50
Burlington Level 2: 1
Level 3: 2
IKEA - 1065 Plains Rd. East
Appleby Crossing - 2435 Appleby Line
Caledon Level 2: 3
Level 3: 1
Albion Hills Conservation Area Chalet - 16500 Regional Rd.
Albion Hills Conservation Area Beach Parking - 16500 Regional Rd.
Glen Haffy Conservation Area - 19245 Airport Rd.
Margaret Dunn Library - 20 Snelcrest Dr.
Collingwood Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 285 First St.
Tim Horton's - 4 High St.
Elmvale Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 68 Yonge St. South
Fort Erie Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 325 Garrison Rd.
Tim Horton's - 1167 Garrison Rd.
Goodwood Level 2: 1
Level 3: 0
Claremont Field Centre - 4290 Westney Rd. North
Hamilton Level 2: 1
Level 3: 2
Centre on Barton - 1275 Barton St. East
Tim Horton's - 1470 ON-6
Tim Horton's - 473 Concession St.
Keswick Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Glenwoods Centre - 443 The Queensway South
Markham Level 2: 10
Level 3: 2
123 Commerce Valley Dr. West
125 Commerce Valley Dr. West
50 Minthorn Blvd.
140 Allstate Pkwy.
Armadale Crossing - 7690-7770 Markham Rd.
80 Allstate Parkway
Midhurst Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Simcoe County Museum - 1151 Highway 26
Midland Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 16815 ON-12
Milton Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Campbellville Country Court Plaza - 35 Crawford Cres.
Mississauga Level 2: 58
Level 3: 20
80 Courtneypark Dr.
5800 Explorer Dr.
Meadowvale Corporate Centre - 6880 Financial Dr.
5750 Explorer Dr.
2085 Hurontario St.
4701/4715 Tahoe Blvd.
Indian Line Campground - 7625 Finch Ave. West
Pearson International Airport - 6301 Silver Dart Dr.
Pearson International Airport - 8 Network Rd.
Pearson International Airport - 3111 Convair Dr.
Hilton Mississauga - 6750 Mississusauga Rd.
2630 Skymark Ave.
Novo-nordisk - 2680 Skymark Ave.
Airway Centre - 5935 Airport Rd.
30 Eglinton Ave. West
Newmarket Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 1100 Davis Dr.
Niagara Falls Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 8089 Portage Rd.
Oakville Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
Tim Horton's - 228 Wyecroft Rd.
Orangeville Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 23 Broadway Ave.
Orillia Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 320 Memorial Ave.
Tim Horton's - 25 Colborne St. East
Oshawa Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
Best Western Oshawa - 559 Bloor St. West
Pickering Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Petticoat Creek Conservation Area - 1100 Whites Rd.
Richmond Hill Level 2: 9
Level 3: 0
30 Leek Cres.
38 Leek Cres.
95 Mural St.
1725 16th Ave.
Swan Lake Centre - 1229 Bethesda Sideroad
St Catharines Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 170 4th Ave. South
Stayner Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Clearview Joint Emergency Services Operations Centre - 6993 ON-26
Stouffville Level 2: 1
Level 3: 0
Bruce's Mill Conservation Area - 3291 Stouffville Rd.
Toronto Level 2: 121
Level 3: 25
IKEA Etobicoke - 1475 The Queensway
IKEA North York - 15 Provost Dr.
St. Joseph's Health Centre - 30 The Queensway
Royal Bank Plaza - 200 Bay St.
University Centre - 383 University Ave.
5775 Yonge St.
Lucliff Place - 700 Bay St.
York Mills Centre - 4325 Yonge St.
MaRS Centre - 661 University Ave.
Yorkville Village - 87 Avenue Rd.
Madison Centre - 4950 Yonge St.
Citibank - 123 Front St.
110 Yonge St.
525 University Ave.
175 Bloor St.
Metro Centre - 200 Wellington St.
Airport Marriott - 901 Dixon Rd.
Maple Leaf Square - 15 York St.
Air Canada Centre - 50 Bay St.
Air Miles Tower - 438 University Ave.
720 Bay St.
655 Bay St.
5001 Yonge St.
Adelaide Place - 181 University Ave.
2075 Kennedy Rd.
Dynamic Funds Tower - 1 Adelaide St. East
Atria - 2235 Sheppard Ave. East
30 Adelaide St. East
Commerce West - 401 and 405 The West Mall
SNC-Lavalin - 304 The East Mall
Burnhamthorpe Square - 10-20 Four Seasons Place
Morneau Shepall - 895 Don Mills Rd.
145 King St. West
150 King St. West
Sun Life Centre - 200 King St. West
Manulife Centre - 55 Bloor St. West
Bloor Islington Place - 3250 Bloor St. West
33 Bloor St. West
Scotiabank Plaza - 40 King St. West
115 Gordon Baker Rd.
Foresters - 789 Don Mills Rd.
277 Wellington St. West
Glen Rouge Conservation Area - 7450 Kingston Rd.
Milliken Crossing - 5631 - 5671 Steeles Ave. East
Black Creek Pioneer Village - 1000 Murray Ross Parkway
Humber River Hospital - 1235 Wilson Ave.
Tottenham Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Tottenham Mall - 55 Queen St. South
Vaughan Level 2: 4
Level 3: 3
TRCA Head Office - 101 Exchange Ave.
Joint Operations Centre - 2800 Rutherford Rd.
IKEA - 200 Interchange Way
Vineland Station Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 3335 North Service Rd.
Washago Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Washago Carpool Lot - HWY 11/169
Whitby Level 2: 1
Level 3: 0
Taunton Gardens - 320 Taunton Rd. East
Woodbridge Level 2: 3
Level 3: 0
Boyd Conservation Area - 8739 Islington Ave.
Kortright Centre - 9550 Pine Valley Dr.
East Region Level 2: 17
Level 3: 49
Arnprior Level 2: 0
Level 3: 3
Tim Horton's - 201 Madawaska Blvd.
Metro/Food Basics - 375 Daniel St. South
McDonald's - 16 Baskin Dr. West
Bancroft Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 234 Hastings St. North
Barrhaven Level 2: 2
Level 3: 0
Ottawa Park and Ride - 3347 Fallowfield Rd.
Belleville Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 218 Bell Blvd.
Brockville Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 2454 Parkdale Ave.
Tim Horton's - 77 William St.
Campbellford Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 148 Grand Rd.
Carleton Place Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 144 Franktown Rd.
Casselman Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Metro/Food Basics - 21 Richer Close
Cornwall Level 2: 0
Level 3: 3
Tim Horton's - 81 Tollgate Rd. West
McDonald's - 1301 Brookdale Ave.
St. Hubert - 705 Brookdale Ave.
Deep River Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 33235 Hwy 17
Embrun Level 2: 2
Level 3: 0
Embrun Arena - 8 Blais St.
Fenelon Falls Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 23 Lindsay St.
Gloucester Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
St. Hubert - 2484 Boulevard St. Joseph
Hawkesbury Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
St. Hubert - 456 County Rd. 17
Tim Horton's - 418 Main St. East
Johnstown Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Gas Bar - 2618 CR-2
Kanata Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Ottawa Park and Ride - 130 Earl Grey Dr.
Kemptville Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
TSC Stores - 2966 County Rd. 43
Kingston Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 681 Princess St.
Lindsay Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
Lindsay Recreation Complex - 133 Adelaide St. South
Tim Horton's - 85 Mt Hope St.
Madoc Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 14118 Hwy 62
Tim Horton's - 14121 ON-7
Manotick Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 989 River Rd.
Napanee Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 478 Centre St. North
Nepean Level 2: 2
Level 3: 0
Ben Franklin Place - 101 Centrepointe Dr.
Newcastle Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 361 King Ave. East
Ottawa Level 2: 3
Level 3: 8
McDonald's - 670 Bronson Ave.
City of Ottawa Fire Administration Building - 1445 Carling Ave.
St. Hubert - 4010 Riverside Dr.
Ottawa Public Parking Lot - 687 Somerset
IKEA - 2685 Iris St.
Pembroke Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 805 Pembroke St. East
Tim Horton's - 11 Robinson Ln.
Perth Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 35 Dufferin St.
Peterborough Level 2: 7
Level 3: 4
Tim Horton's - 1527 Water St.
Lansdowne Place Mall -  645 Lansdowne St.
Norwood Town Hall - 2357 County Rd. 45
King Street Parking Garage -  200 King St.
Memorial Centre Arena - 151 Lansdowne St. West
Riverview Park Zoo - 1230 Water St.
Downtown Lakefield Public Parking - 39 Queen St.
Picton Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Downtown Picton Public Parking - 55 King St.
Port Hope Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 175 Rose Glen Rd. North
Port Perry Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 14500 Simcoe St.
Rockland Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
Metro/Food Basics - 9071 County Rd. 17
Tim Horton's - 2875 Laporte St.
Northeast Region Level 2: 1
Level 3: 24
Azilda Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 514 Notre Dame St. East
Burk's Falls Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 27 Commercial Dr.
Elliot Lake Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 269 King's Hwy 108
Tim Horton's - 261 ON-108
Espanola Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 701 Centre St.
Gravenhurst Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 1105 Bethuine Dr.
Tim Horton's - 150 Talisman Dr.
Huntsville Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 44 ON-60
Kapuskasing Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 240 Government Rd.
Tim Horton's - 8 Government Rd. East
Kirkland Lake Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 155 Government Rd. West
Tim Horton's - 175 Government Rd. West
New Liskeard Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 883350 Hwy 65 West
Tim Horton's - 883307 ON-65
North Bay Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 999 McKeown Ave.
Tim Horton's - 114 Drury St.
Parry Sound Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 118 Bowes St.
Port Severn Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Jag's Petro Canada - 41 Lone Pine Rd.
Sault Ste. Marie Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 673 Trunk Rd.
Tim Horton's - 223 Second Line West
Sudbury Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 914 Newgate Ave.
South Porcupine Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 4556 ON-101
Timmins Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 520-522 Algonquin Blvd. East
Wawa Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 92 Mission Rd.
Northwest Region Level 2: 0
Level 3: 7
Dryden Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 520 Government St.
Tim Horton's - 655 Government St.
Fort Frances Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 831 Kings Highway
Tim Horton's - 525 Hwy 11 West
Kenora Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 900 Highway 17 East
Thunder Bay Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 770 Memorial Ave.
Tim Horton's - 121 East Ave.
West Region Level 2: 33
Level 3: 47
Amherstburg Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
The Libro Centre -  3295 Meloche Rd.
Arthur Level 2: 1
Level 3: 2
Arthur Library and Medical Centre - 110 Charles St. East
Arthur Sports Complex -  158 Domville St.
Brantford Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 73 King George Rd.
Tim Horton's - 1290 Colborne St. East
Cambridge Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 416 Hespeler Rd.
Cayuga Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 51 Talbot St.
Chatham Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 710 Richmond St.
Tim Horton's - 33 3rd St.
Clifford Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Clifford Community Complex - 2 Brown St. South
Clinton Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 300 Ontario St.
Drumbo Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Mister Steak Highway Travel Plaza - 80667 Oxford Rd. 29
Essex Level 2: 0
Level 3: 4
Essex Centre Sports Complex -  60 Fairview Ave. West
Colechester Harbour -  100 Jackson St.
Exeter Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
153 Main St. North
Goderich Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 354 Bayfield Rd.
Guelph Level 2: 1
Level 3: 3
Social Services Building - 138 Wyndham St. North
Puslinch Library - 29 Brock Rd. South
N Hanlon Park Mall - 218 Silvercreek Pkwy. 
Hanover Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
McDonald's - 800 10th St.
Tim Horton's - 639 10th St.
Harriston Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 182 Elora St.
Ingersoll Level 2: 2
Level 3: 1
Downtown Ingersoll Public Parking - 16 King St.
Innisfil Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 940 Innisfil Beach Rd.
Kitchener Level 2: 8
Level 3: 0
50 Queen St. North
55 King St. West
Leamington Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 214 Talbot St.
London Level 2: 6
Level 3: 1
Wellington Commons - 1210 Wellington Rd. South
Tim Horton's - 146 Clarke Rd.
City Centre - 380 Wellington St.
Meaford Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 291 Sykes St. South
Mount Forest Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Mount Forest Sports Complex - 850 Princess St.
Owen Sound Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 1015 10th St. West
Port Colborne Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 429 Main St. West
Port Dover Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 1 St Andrew St.
Port Elgin Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 278 Goderich St.
Sarnia Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 1399 Colborne Rd.
Simcoe Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 77 Queensway East
Southampton Level 2: 1
Level 3: 0
Saugeen First Nation Gas Bar - 43 Cameron Dr.
Stratford Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 1040 Ontario St.
Strathroy Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 269 Caradoc St. South
Tillsonburg Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
Tim Horton's - 401 Simcoe St.
Wallaceburg Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 848 Dufferin Ave.
Wasaga Beach Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
McDonald's - 1275 Mosley St.
Waterloo Level 2: 7
Level 3: 0
Northland Business Centre - 60 Northland Rd.
Waterloo Corporate Campus - 180 Northfield Dr. West / 595 Parkside Dr.
Welland Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Fitch Street Plaza - 200 Fitch St
Wiarton Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 445 Berford St.
Windsor Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 80 Park St. East
Wingham Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Tim Horton's - 33 Josephine St.
Woodstock Level 2: 2
Level 3: 1
Quality Inn - 580 Bruin Blvd.

Some of the above noted locations may be subject to change prior to March 31, 2017.


Tuesday 26 July 2016

A Trip Across The Pond - My EV Observations

I recently returned from an 8 day trip to London and Paris with my Wife for our one year wedding anniversary. We saw the sights, took tons of cheesy tourist selfies and wined and dined on the Eiffel Tower; but despite the fact it was our anniversary trip I was keeping an eye out for what I could spot that was different in the EV world across the pond. Don't worry, my wife was in on it too, she was "Tesla spotting" and excitingly pointing out anytime she saw a Model S.

In London we didn't notice too much out of the ordinary, but we did spot this amazing on street EV parking. Charging there was an Aixam Mega City EV and a Mercedes C350e plug-in hybrid can be seen in the picture. These on street chargers are part of the very cool "Source London" program. There are over 850 of these charging stations in London in both on street and off street locations. It would be very cool to have on street chargers like this so we aren't tied down to private lots in the downtown core of Toronto.

If you want to learn more about this service their website is neat and informative.



Next we have this very cool electric car sharing service spotted in Paris called Autolib. Think Car2Go like we have in Toronto but all electric. I personally think this actually makes more sense than Car2Go because just like Car2Go they are short term, billed buy the minute rental cars that are often only used for in-city driving and are always parked at designated locations. And because they park at designated locations its easy to have charging there. So as long as the car is waiting for someone to rent it, it can be charging.

I would bet it would be very rare that you would get into one of these cars and find it not fully charged or at least with enough range to get what you need done (these cars, "Bluecars" as they call them, have between 150 to 250km of range fully charged). It would be great to see Car2Go whenever they have to swap out their fleet charge their Smart Cars to Electric Drive Smart Cars and take a page out of Autolib's books.

You can learn more about Autolib here.



Next, and again in Paris I spotted this advertising for the Hyundai IONIQ electric on the back of a bus. Well actually I spotted dozens of these ads but this is the one that I got a good picture of. This is something we really don't see enough of in Toronto; that being manufactures getting behind their vehicles and pushing them through actual mass market advertising.

If Nissan, BMW, Mercedes, Chevrolet, Ford or Mitsubishi could get behind and push one of their cars like this, it could have a great impact on EV adoption in the city. Currently if you aren't already considering an EV purchase in this city, you need to be steered towards it through word of mouth or you need to see an electric car and do your own research. Its unfortunate, but we won't see a big uptick in EV sales until the manufactures start to put some dollars behind them in advertising like they do for ICE cars today. (Yes I do know Chevy did some TV ads for the Volt and Ford did some for the Focus EV but they were poorly positioned and had a limited run)



Lastly we spotted this awesome Tesla Taxi. Yes I know there are some Tesla Taxies in Canada too, but I have yet to personally spot one, we noticed this one on our second day in Paris. We wished it could have been around when we needed to grab a cab while there, but oh well. I will just have to live without being able to say I got a ride in a Tesla Taxi in Paris. At least one of our Taxi rides was a Prius, not an EV, but better than a full ICE.



So that concludes our European EV vacation.... ahem... sorry; European wedding anniversary trip. Lots of innovative things that would be great to see come to the GTA one day.

Monday 4 July 2016

Heads Up for Canadian Volt Owners

UPDATE: Volt Stats is working for me again as of 07/20/16. Was apparently working since the 14th but I was overseas and unable to try it out. I have a big gap in data unfortunately but everything seems good now.

If you live in Canada and own a Volt and you use Voltstats.net there has been an issue with the new OnStar API for about a week now and there is currently no fix in sight.


It is unfortunately as we are all going to have a fairly large data hole in our stats. Plus I had planned on using the data for a post on my first year of Volt ownership in a few weeks. So I will have to make do. I will post an update when I see it up and running again.

Monday 20 June 2016

HOV Lane Access Permanence Granted!

EV drivers who are holders of Green Licence Plates in Ontario can breathe easy as of today if their regular commute involves use of the HOV lanes as the previous June 30th deadline for single driver access has been removed and replaced with permanence!

The Green Plate page on the MTO website has finally updated today to show this:


This is great news for both current and future Ontario EV drivers and for attaining the eventual goal of an electric Ontario.

See you in the HOV lanes!

Tuesday 7 June 2016

Some Signs of Life

From both myself and the MTO.

I myself have been tied upnwith some other things and have not had the time to sit down and write over the past week or two. That should be changing soon and there will be some advocacy pieces for charging infrastructure in Ontario coming in the next few months.

As for the MTO, I have an update on the Green Plate HOV access situation. While unfortunately not the news we are probably looking for (that the earlier proposal has been implemented), the MTO website has been updated to reflect the proposal of making the HOV access for Green Plates permanent.


Knowing the pace the government tends to work at (somewhere between sloth and snail) this is welcome progress, but I would say not to expect to see anything finalized until the 11th hour or possibly a few weeks after the deadline.

If the June 30th expiration date does pass without permanence being implemented, I would advise to stay out of the HOV lanes until further notice. While the signs still may be up, the expiration is written into the highway traffic act so you will technically be in the wrong, and all it will take is one over zealous police officer to land yourself a $110 ticket and 3 demerit points. And while you may win in court, is it really worth it?

I myself will be staying out of the HOV lanes if the deadline passes, which is a shame as I just started using a route that allows me to take advantage of them in the mornings.

Thursday 26 May 2016

Drive Electric for #GreaterTorontoDay



Today is #GreaterTorontoDay, a day where everyone is invited to do a good deed to make the GTA a better place to live.

This being a blog about EVs in the Greater Toronto Area, I would say a Greater Toronto is an electric Toronto. A Toronto with less noise and less pollution all comes from a Toronto with more EV drivers on the road. This small good deed is one that will pay into the future for generations to come by not continuing to pollute the air and deplete the valuable and limited natural resources our future generations will rely on.

So what can you do? Well if you are already an EV driver you are covered, but if you are visiting this blog because you are on the fence about getting an EV or considering a purchase, then today is the day you should go for, or schedule a test driver for that EV you have been eyeing.

A simple test drive has been all it took for thousands to get hooked on driving electric. It will get you that one step closer to doing the good deed of driving an EV instead of a gasoline car in our city and make our city a truly Greater Toronto!

My good deed for today is offering my help and expertise directly to new potential EV buyers, If you want my opinion or advice on any EV question and any Questions specific to driving an EV in Toronto or Ontario as a whole, leave a comment below or email me at greatertorontoev@gmail.com and I will get back to you ASAP.

For more about #GreaterTorontoDay click here.

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Ontario to spend $7-billion on sweeping climate change plan - EV Specific Details

The Globe and Mail unveiled details of the Ontario Liberal party’s plan to spend approximately 7 billion on a sweeping climate change plan. The details were debated by cabinet last Wednesday and subsequently obtained by the Globe and Mail. The Globe has published some of the highlights from the plan; many of which are incredibly positive for the eco-conscious. However some may be hard to swallow such as completely moving off natural gas as a heating fuel by 2050.

In and among the highlights were several huge initiatives for accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles:

      ·     $285 million for electric vehicle incentives including:

o   The current up to $14,000 rebate for every electric vehicle sold.
o   The current $1000 charger rebate.
o   Taking the provincial portion off the HST of electric vehicle sales.
o   An extra subsidy for low and moderate income households to buy electric vehicles.
o   Free overnight electricity for charging electric vehicles.
o   More charging stations at government buildings including LCBOs.
o   Consideration to make chargers mandatory on all new buildings.

  • $280-million to help school boards buy electric buses and trucking companies switch to lower-carbon trucks, including by building more liquid natural gas fuelling stations.
  • $375-million for research and development into new clean technologies, including $140-million for a Global Centre for Low-Carbon Mobility at an Ontario university or college to develop electric and other low-carbon vehicle technology.


The most significant pieces of information here are:

  • A dollar figure has been put on EV incentives, if $285 million went into $14,000 rebates alone that would be over 20,000 rebates!
  • Taking the provincial portion of the HST off electric vehicle sales would be a huge boon to EV sales and could be as much as an additional $2,500 off each EV sale on average.
  • Free overnight electricity for EV charging, presumably through special metering could be worth as much as $30-60 per month for each EV owned.

The plan is to be paid for by the province’s upcoming cap-and-trade system and aims to cut emissions to 15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, 37 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2050. On the electric vehicle side, the goals are to expand EV sales to 5 per cent of all vehicles sold by 2020, up to 12 per cent by 2025, and aim to get an electric or hybrid vehicle in every multivehicle driveway by 2024, a total of about 1.7 million cars.


All in all it is positive news. I will keep an eye on these initiatives and post updates when this plan is passed through the Ontario legislature. 

You can read the Globe and Mail's full article here.

Thursday 5 May 2016

What is and where is the best EV charging station in the GTA?

The few EV charging stations I have encountered and actually used in the GTA through the course of my EV ownership have been nothing to boast about so far. They have often been a single charger, awkwardly placed and often ICE'd (occupied by a gasoline car). Nothing fancy, nothing to look at.

Then today I was out in the west end for a meeting and I had an hour to kill so I figured I would find a charger, park and let the car sip some electrons while I sip my morning coffee and take care of some emails. I browsed through plugshare to find the closest charger to the office I was visiting and found this beauty.


First off, yes that is my car - a Chevy Volt. Yes, I know it is a PHEV/EREV and not a true EV, but don't crucify me, I drive it like an electric car. I plan to touch on PHEV vs. EREV vs. EV in the future so back on topic...

In the parking lot of Baka Mobile is this amazing 8 stall charging station with solar canopy that is open to the public. It is an impressive investment by the company and a great example of the investment others should be making into EV infrastructure. 

So that lead me to thinking, what is and where are the best EV charging stations in the GTA and southern Ontario for that matter. Where can we see the best examples of what EV charging in Ontario should be?

Leave a comment or send me an email at greatertorontoev@gmail.com and tell me what you think is Ontario's best charging station and it may get featured here. 

And if you want to now more about the company that made the investment in a charger like this on their property, their website is here.

Thursday 28 April 2016

Koben Systems 11 Million EVCO Grant - Where will we see the chargers?

Soon after the the list of who received the EVCO grant money was released by the province of Ontario today, I reached out to Koben systems asking for comment on who their partners were, they promptly got back to me tonight and this is what we now know.

Koben Systems will be installing 193 Level 2 chargers and 144 Level 3 chargers across 193 locations. Those locations will be at the following partners:

- Tim Hortons

- McDonalds

- Impark (Parking Garages and Lots)

- Triovest (Property Management Company, some of their retail locations can be seen here which will be the most likely candidates)

- TRCA (Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, a list of parks under their control are here)

It looks like a promising group of potential locations!

BIG NEWS! - Ontario EVCO Grant Recipients Announced Today



Thats right! The recipients of the EVCO (Electric Vehicle Chargers Ontario Program) grants have been announced.

As it stands, Ontario can now expect to get 213 new Level 3 chargers and 280 Level 2 chargers. The 213 Level 3 chargers are a big deal as they are a gigantic improvement over Ontario's measly 4 chargers in place today as of writing this article. This is a huge leap forward in making long distance travel by EV in Ontario possible.

The list of recipients is below; you can fairly easily discern where the chargers will be located by the grant recipient name and high level of location column. Most are along major travel routes.

The largest recipient of all was Koben Systems Inc. receiving about 11 million of the 20 million avalaible to build out a "province wide network" of 193 level 2 chargers and 144 level 3 chargers.

Koben Systems is a leader in Canada in the build-out of EV charging infrastructure, but they are not a land owner so it remains to be seen where their chargers get placed. I reached out to them for comment on their build-out and location plan now that their receipt of the grant has been announced and they provided me with the following information you can read here.

Overall this is great news for the future of EVs and long distance EV travel in Ontario; however when you look at the list below, it is disappointing not to see a greater number of L2 applications for places like shopping centres and other public spots where EV owners might go and stay a few hours. The high visibility of chargers in these kinds of places will be one of the greatest determinators for the success of EVs in Ontario as they will be more visible to people going about their everyday business than just about anything else.

Many people will want to see charging options anywhere and everywhere before they consider making the jump to electric so look for future posts on the subject. The 280 announced today on top of current deployment is a good start, but it is a long road to ubiquity.

Here is the list of grant recipients:

Private/Public Sector PartnersCompany LocationEVCO FundingNumber of ChargersHigh Level Location of Chargers
Arntjen Solar North America Inc.Woodstock, ON$611,987Level 2: 6 Level 3: 6Central Southwestern Ontario
Best Western Stoneridge Inn & Conference CentreLondon, ON$65,630Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Highway 401 near London
City of Kawartha LakesLindsay, ON$58,700Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Lindsay
City of VaughanVaughan, ON$17,500Level 2: 2
Level 3: 0
Vaughan
Corporation of the County of Prince EdwardPicton, ON$75,000Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Picton
Corporation of the County of SimcoeMidhurst, ON$267,350Level 2: 0
Level 3: 3
Simcoe County, Barrie and Environs
Corporation of the County of WellingtonGuelph, ON$215,076Level 2: 0
Level 3: 3
Guelph and along Highway 6
CrossChasm Technologies Inc. (workplace)Waterloo, ON$61,088Level 2: 6
Level 3: 0
Waterloo
Electric CircuitMontreal, QC$1,415,000Level 2: 8 Level 3: 14Ottawa and Eastern Ontario
Greater Toronto Airports Authority (Toronto Pearson)Toronto, ON$2,685,000Level 2: 22 Level 3: 10Mississauga
Icarus Power GenerationToronto, ON$341,932Level 2: 4
Level 3: 4
Welland, Guelph, Tottenham, Keswick
IKEA CanadaBurlington, ON$921,145Level 2: 0
Level 3: 10
GTHA and Ottawa
Jag's Petro Canada Fuel and ConveniencePort Severn, ON$130,000Level 2: 1
Level 3: 1
Port Severn
JML Energy Solutions / JML Electric Inc.Oakville, ON$135,150Level 2: 4
Level 3: 1
Toronto
Koben Systems Inc.Mississauga, ON$11,396,246Level 2: 193
Level 3: 144
Province-wide Network
Oxford CountyWoodstock, ON$350,760Level 2: 4
Level 3: 2
Ingersoll and Woodstock
Peterborough Distribution Inc. (PDI)Peterborough, ON$291,480Level 2: 7
Level 3: 2
Peterborough
Precise ParklinkToronto, ON$81,660Level 2: 10
Level 3: 0
401 near Downsview
Saugeen First NationSouthampton, ON$8,000Level 2: 1
Level 3: 0
Base of Bruce Peninsula
The Corporation of the City of BramptonBrampton, ON$90,000Level 2: 4
Level 3: 0
Brampton
The Tricar GroupLondon, ON$32,747Level 2: 6
Level 3: 0
London
Town of AmherstburgAmherstburg, ON$65,592Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
South of Windsor
Town of CaledonCaledon, ON$230,920Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
Northwestern GTHA
Town of EssexEssex, ON$252,820Level 2: 0
Level 3: 4
Southeast of Windsor
Township of RussellEmbrun, ON$9,429Level 2: 2
Level 3: 0
Eastern Ontario
Best Western Hotel and Conference Centre - OshawaOshawa, ON$133,287Level 2: 0
Level 3: 2
Oshawa
Triumph Inc.  (condo)Toronto, ON$56,500Level 2: 0
Level 3: 1
Toronto
Total$20,000,000Level 2: 280
Level 3: 213



Read the press release from the province here.

Wednesday 27 April 2016

Ontario is Lagging Behind on EV Purchase Consideration Statistics

A new study by Kanetix.ca has shown that nearly half of Canadians (48.7%) would consider an electric or hybrid car as their next vehicle.

That's a great number; but when broken out by province, Ontario falls short of where it should be considering the amazing level of EV support by the provincial government.

The number one province is Nova Scotia with a whopping 64.5% of respondents being likely to consider an electric vehicle, followed next by BC at 54.9%.

Ontario comes in at 45% (tied with Quebec), but what is alarming is that Nova Scotia has no rebate and the BC rebate is only up to $6000; far short of the previous Ontario max rebate of $8500 which has since been boosted to as much as $14,000. Basic logic would dictate that Ontario should be leading the pack.

Likely the disparity is somewhat cultural with Ontarians possibly being a little less likely to embrace the "eco" aspect of EVs and maybe a little more adverse to change and new technology. Unfortunately I am not a social scientist so I cannot say for sure, but what I can say is that we as EV owners and enthusiasts should do what we can to boost the numbers up a bit considering the great incentives our province provides.

You can:

- Bring up the topic with friends, family and co-workers who you know are considering a new car purchase. You may not want to come off as "preachy" but a lot of people may be the perfect fit for an EV and just never considered it. Also you don't need to own one to have the knowledge to steer people in the right direction. Go for some test drives yourself even if you have no intent of purchasing right now.

- If you own an EV, really give the people who stop you to ask you about your car the time to explain the car as best you can. Always bring up the incentives, it is amazing how many people have no clue as the government does not do a great job of advertising them.

- Share things on social media, if you have to suffer through pictures of your high school friend's new baby (I kid), they can manage a few EV positive articles popping up in their news feed.

- Push your employer and your local stores and malls to install charging. Seeing charging infrastructure go in gets people thinking about electric vehicles.

You can read the full Marketing Mag article here.

Fun Fact - Ontario Green Plates are Available in French

Not everyone knows this, but if you are one of the 550,000 Francophone Ontarians you can get your licence plates in the Province of Ontario in French with our French slogan "TANT A DECOUVRIR" instead of "YOURS TO DISCOVER".




Kind of cool right?

Well if you are a current or potential Francophone green vehicle owner, you will be happy to know that Green Plates are also available in French. I had never really thought about whether these existed or not, but yesterday in Richmond Hill I saw a Plug in Prius with a Green Plate that looked kind of odd.

Instead of starting out with "GV" for "Green Vehicle" the plate started with "VE" for "Véhicule écologique" and the slogan space was also occupied by "Véhicule écologique" instead of "Green Vehicle"

I looked it up and couldn't find any official information on the plates so now you know.

If you want to know more about the French language plates, the Ontario press release can be found here.



Wednesday 13 April 2016

The Future of Ontario EV HOV Lane Access?



UPDATE: It turns out that as of March 9th, Ontario has put forth regulatory amendments to make HOV lane access by single drivers in PHEVs and BEVs permanent. You can read the proposal here.

However it is important to note this is still a proposal, we want this proposal to be put into effect and become law so it is still important at this point to speak up and make sure the Premier, Minister of Transportation and your local MPP hear your support to have this proposal put into effect making everything below still relevant.
_________________________________________________________________

HOV lane access by electric vehicles bearing "green" licence plates in Ontario is a perk I seldom take advantage of; but when I do, I really appreciate the time savings it grants me. For some people I imagine it as somewhat life changing, giving people back an incredible amount of time. Because of the value of time it is an excellent incentive to help aid in the adoption of zero emissions vehicles in the province.

Unfortunately access is set to expire on June 30th, 2016. It was already extended once as the previous expiry was set for the same date in 2015 but we are only about two and a half months away from the deadline this time and so far not a peep has been heard from the Provincial Government.

I did inquire at the Province's booth at the Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto this February and while I could not get any concrete information I was told that the expiry date was in discussion and it might either be extended again or simply made permanent. However with the clock ticking down I think it is important for EV owners and enthusiasts to speak up on our desire to at least extend, if not make permanent, HOV lane access for the following reasons:

1) It is a ZERO cost way to encourage EV adoption, all HOV lane signs are already marked with "GREEN Permitted" so there is no additional expenditure to continue allowing access.

2) Taking away access would incur some costs to change the signage on all Ontario HOV lane highways.

3) The HOV lane access programs in California and British Columbia are continuing. Taking away HOV lane access in Ontario would put us behind as an EV friendly Province/State and remove our leadership position on championing EV adoption.

4) Our HOV lanes in Ontario are not congested, in fact they are so empty that Ontario is now working to sell access to single drivers in regular ICE cars.

5) Ontario is nowhere near our EV adoption goal. The old goal was 10K vehicles by 2015 and I now belive it is now 1 in 20 by 2020 (5%) which works out to 409,626 electric cars by 2020. We are nowhere near this goal yet and we are probably sitting somewhere around 6K total (we were somewhere just under 5K in June of 2015.

So if you support continuing to allow access by single passenger EV drivers in Ontario to the HOV lanes, lets get vocal.

The most direct way is to email or mail your local MPP. Ontario does not exactly make it easy but the below can help you figure out who to write to:

You can look up your electoral district here

And then find the email and address of your MPP for your area here

Then email or mail them this form letter

If you are more of a social media type, I have already tweeted Cathleen Wynne and Steven Del Duca (Ontario Premier and the Minster of Transportation). Retweet my tweets below!

Hopefully we can put some pressure on the Government to not forget about this and extend the HOV lane access beyond June 30th.

Monday 11 April 2016

My Go-To Argument for Electric Vehicles

Debating the merits of electric vehicles can be a tricky proposition, it can easily get heated or overly technical depending on who you are speaking with. Political beliefs and general miss-education on the subject can all get in the way and it is tough to bring out a universal argument for why electric (or at least zero-emission vehicles if you are a proponent of hydrogen) vehicles are the best option for our future and our planet.

I have found that the best universal argument comes from Arnold Schwarzenegger, here is the quote from him:

"There are two doors. Behind Door Number One is a completely sealed room, with a regular, gasoline-fueled car. Behind Door Number Two is an identical, completely sealed room, with an electric car. Both engines are running full blast.

I want you to pick a door to open, and enter the room and shut the door behind you. You have to stay in the room you choose for one hour. You cannot turn off the engine. You do not get a gas mask.
I’m guessing you chose the Door Number Two, with the electric car, right? Door number one is a fatal choice – who would ever want to breathe those fumes?

This is the choice the world is making right now."

Now some may still make the "long tailpipe" argument ignoring the greater efficiency of even the diriest coal electric plant over a regular internal combustion engine, for those I add my own extra line to the argument.

"There are two doors. Behind Door Number One is a completely sealed room, with a regular, gasoline-fueled car. Behind Door Number Two is an identical, completely sealed room, with an electric car, outside that room is a lit charcoal BBQ. Both engines are running full blast."

Adding those 8 words addresses the long tailpipe rebuttal as most electricity plants are not located in the downtown core and are rather located outside the city core and do not contribute to smog pollution to the degree that automobiles do.

From there you can launch into efficiency and renewable/clean energy mix in your respective area, but I think that small addition clears things up quite nicely.

Friday 8 April 2016

Want to Understand Sustainable Energy and Electric Cars?

Then you need to read this article (link below).

Instead of trying to write it all out myself, I will just let Tim Urban of the blog - 'Wait But Why?' explain it to you. The piece is long to the point that it is practically a book but I have never seen a more concise explanation of why we need to achieve a sustainable energy future and the role that EVs will play in our sustainable energy future. He then explains the importance of a company like Tesla and really any car company working to put out a long range electric vehicle.

I highly recommend you invest the time.

How Tesla Will Change The World

I may one day write my own TLDR version of this with a Greater Toronto Area spin and focus on it, but for now nobody can explain it better than Tim.

While you are there, check out some of his other work, you may just find yourself hooked. But don't forget to come back over to GTEVs. I am planning on my next posts to start addressing the state of charging in the Toronto are and provide some tools to rally around the cause of installing chargers and hopefully influence some change in the city.

Thursday 7 April 2016

Introduction + Why start this blog?

My name is Dylan, I am an EV (Electric Vehicle) owner, Tesla Model 3 reservation holder and something of an EV and sustainable energy enthusiast and activist living in the Greater Toronto Area.

I have quietly and religiously been following electric vehicles for nearly 10 years since the Chevrolet Volt concept was first shown at NAIAS and not so quietly talking the ear off of anyone who would listen to me extol the virtues of electric vehicles. I have long had the idea of doing my own writing on the topic of EVs, but never found the right motivation to do so until a few days ago.

Hot on the heels of the Tesla Model 3 unveil on March 31st, Breakfast Television ran a small segment on the reservations numbers and the car in general, I watched the segment generally hoping for a positive piece that would drive some EV interest in the GTA; unfortunately that was not the case.

Well, OK, it generally was positive; up until Frank and Winston started talking about "concerns" around the Model 3, namely with charging. Not only was it riddled with inaccuracies they showed this image to convey the lack of chargers in the GTA:


Now I will be the first person to tell you that the state of charging options in Toronto and Ontario in general is dismal at best. But Frank had made a comment along the lines of that he (and I am paraphrasing slightly here) 'had a hard enough time waiting to fill up his car at a gas station, much less waiting 3-4 hours at a charger and finding something to do'.

That is when the above image from Tesla's website came out to back up Frank's issue with Electric vehicles. Unfortunately they neglected a few important facts:

1) Yes, your at home charge might take a while, but it will normally be overnight and every single morning you will leave with a "full tank" so to speak. That "full tank" will let you drive 350km that day and as the majority of people do not drive more than that in a day and also most likely won't crack even 100km in an average day of driving. So in reality, you will never visit one of these destination chargers or super chargers in a Model 3 unless you go on a trip which leads to fact #2.

2) Winston correctly pointed it out that there was only one supercharger in Toronto, which is correct. However the spin they were putting on it made it seem like people were going to have to use it as their one and only gas station in Toronto when in reality, Superchargers are for long distance travel enabling you to hop from charger to charger stopping once every 2-3 hours or so. Had they zoomed out a bit they would have seen this:


Which clearly paints a different picture; a picture that shows you can use Superchargers to get to many of North America's major cities as the network was intended to allow. In fact you can probably get to the majority of North American cities by the end of this year as the below picture is the build-out plan to the end of 2016.



Paints a much more positive picture than trying to imply all owners are going to be trying to "fill" their cars at a single super charger station in Toronto doesn't it?


3) Lastly, they stated that there are very few "destination" chargers only in the downtown core of Toronto. True if you use only Tesla's site to find chargers with a Tesla plug, but a simple adapter can allow you to use almost all the chargers in the GTA. The below screenshot from Plug Share clearly shows that they are not just located in the downtown core.


All in all I was disappointed with the segment and I realized that as EV's take root in Toronto as the Bolt and Model 3 come to market, there should be a GTA-centric resource for everything EVs and so GT EVs is born. 

I hope that the segment aired the way it did simply due to a lack of education on electric cars in the newsroom and not out of malice. I tweeted some corrections to them immediately after the segment aired and offered to speak with them if they wanted to speak to a current EV owner and expert on the topic, but as of writing this blog I have not had a response.  

Should you want to watch the segment you can find it here

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