Electric cars make sense

Re: Electric-car subsidies warranted — Sept. 24

Stacey Danckert’s well-reasoned rebuttal to the Fraser Institute rant against electric cars actually understates the case for public support for electric vehicle adoption.

Peak demand for electricity in Ontario has been falling for decades. So long as our government insists on tying our power supply to overpriced nuclear reactors which cannot be shut down or started up quickly in response to demand changes, we will continue to sell surplus electricity out of province, at a loss. We all pay for that.

Our surplus power could instead be used during off-peak hours to fuel a much more environmentally-friendly transportation source.

Projections are that improvements in battery technology will make electric vehicles cost-competitive with traditional internal combustion engine cars as soon as five years from now. Pity that our governments don’t see the value in helping to speed up the adoption of cleaner cars and stem the flow of carbon emissions into our atmosphere now. The so-called savings from the cancellation of Ontario’s Green Energy Act are a classic example of pennywise, pound-foolish. Sadly, future generations will pay the bill unless we act quickly.

Michael Strathdee

Kitchener