Electric vehicle company acquired
Halifax's Jeff Farwell is looking to give the used electric vehicle industry a shock with the acquisition of a dealership in Charlottetown and plans to expand further across Canada.
"We want to own the used vehicle market from the point of view of being able to offer affordable options for electric vehicles," said Farwell, CEO of All EV Canada in Halifax. On Tuesday, the company announced that it acquired Charlottetown's used electric dealership, Pure EV, in a merger. Mike Kenny, who started Pure EV in August 2019, is remaining with the company in a sales role as well as a shareholder. The Charlottetown dealership has been renamed All EV Canada.
Farwell said the company is also looking to expand into New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario, but it hasn't settled on specific locations in those provinces.
All EV incorporated in November 2019, and purchased its facility in the Burnside Industrial Park in Dartmouth, N.S. in January 2020. The company not only sells used electric vehicles, but it also has a shop to service used vehicles and repair vehicles with minor damage (non structural) for resale. It also provides training to first responders, such as firefighters, about how to treat an incident with an electric vehicle given some of the differences compared to a gasolinepowered vehicle. Another important aspect of the business is to educate potential buyers and the general public about the benefits of electric vehicles, especially since the transition from gasoline vehicles can be a unique experience, he said.
Farwell said those services will also be offered in Charlottetown, which, along with adding more inventory on the lot, will require more space. The Charlottetown dealership is located off Sherwood Road near Island EMS, and is sharing space with another business. Farwell said the firm is looking at options for its Charlottetown operations.
"We're looking at his (Kenny's) existing facility that he's operating out of. We're looking at potentially expanding that portfolio, and where we may be able to potentially build a new All EV in Charlottetown would be our first step. So, we're just looking at different sites where it makes sense," Farwell said.
"With a new facility, we'd be bringing on more people as we organically grow into this. There's plenty of jobs that would be possible within the first couple of years, possibly five to 10 as we get moving."
Farwell said the price range for a used electric vehicle at his dealership is $10,000 to $70,000.
When Kenny opened Pure EV last year, it was Atlantic Canada's only bricks-andmortar used electric vehicle dealership at that time. One thing he'd like to see added is a rebate on used electric vehicle purchases. For example, Quebec offers a rebate of up to $4,000, and the federal government offers up to $5,000 on new electric vehicle purchases. Even so, Kenny said the electric vehicle climate on P.E.I. is "good" and "growing." This summer, he had about one sale a week, and he's pleased with the recent addition of six fastcharging stations to the province's existing inventory.
Kenny is also excited about the possibilities of the merger and acquisition.
"We have this opportunity to grow, to go national, to have a real cemented name in the region that will push us west. We're looking forward to opening more locations throughout the region first and then the country, and making it easier for folks to acquire electric cars where they found it was a stumbling block before."