It’s getting easier to own an electric car in oilpatch central
Michael Subasic and his family of five don’t fit the profile of gasguzzling Calgary commuters who clog main thoroughfares on their way from suburban homes to work each morning. They own three electric cars. Subasic, an account executive for Apple, said they started leasing their first one nearly six years ago and, after figuring they were saving big on gas, kept adding to the family fleet.
“For those of us that went in early, there was a huge capital cost (to buy the vehicles),” Subasic said, noting prices are falling. “But the way I look at it is, it’s like pre-purchasing a couple of years worth of gas.”
In the headquarters city of Alberta’s oilpatch, it’s getting easier to own an electric car.
When the Subasics bought their first one in 2012, they needed to have a good sense of how far they were travelling each day and where they could recharge, to avoid a drained battery during their commutes. Back then, there were only a couple of places to charge in Calgary.
Today, there are nearly 80, according to the charging station locator PlugShare.
Calgary-based power producer Atco Ltd. announced Tuesday it’s building a charging station in each of Calgary, Red Deer and east of Edmonton.
The stations, to be operational in early 2018, will be located at Canadian Tire gas refuelling stations near highway exits, which is meant to make it easier to commute within Alberta and outside the province.
Electric vehicle drivers will be able to fully recharge in 20 minutes to four hours, depending on their car, for a fee of $10 to $15.
Wayne Stensby, Atco’s managing director of electricity, said the company is getting into the charging business at a time that battery-operated cars are becoming more popular. The number of electric cars registered in Alberta increased by about 80 per cent in the past year to more than 1,000 vehicles, making it the fourthlargest fleet of its kind in Canada, next to Quebec, Ontario and B.C.
But Stensby doesn’t expect a monumental shift in the way Albertans get to work any time soon.
“We’re going to see more and more electric vehicles on the road,” he said. “That said, I think we’re going to see the conventional, gasoline-powered vehicle is going to be around for some time yet.”
Electric vehicles, the darling of the environmental movement, recharge from Alberta’s power grid that relies heavily on emissionsintensive coal.
More than half of the province’s electricity last year was fuelled by coal, though the NDP government plans to phase it out by 2030.
“There is still some value in moving to electric cars, even if your grid has coal in it today,” said Jackie Forrest, director of research at ARC Energy Research.
There was a huge capital cost (to buy the vehicles) … But the way I look at it is, it’s like pre-purchasing a couple of years worth of gas.