Community of electric vehicle owners is changing minds
Editor’s Note: The theme for this year’s Earth Day is “Restore Our Earth” and recognizes that while climate change is a big concept, there are small things we can each do to help. This week, we’re looking at ways that Atlantic Canadians can make a difference, right here at home.
After Kurt Sampson bought an electric car, his power bill went up by $30 but his gas bill disappeared.
It is fair to say that Sampson is a fan of electric cars. He’s on his third electric car and is a co-founder of the Electric Vehicle Association of Atlantic Canada (EVAAC), which according to the website, is “the largest body of EV (electric vehicle) experience and expertise in Atlantic Canada.” Their stated goal is to teach people about electric cars.
They have an active Facebook group with almost a thousand members. Electric car owners share advice and experience, while potential electric car owners ask questions.
The transition to electric can be a bit daunting for some and Sampson loves to answer questions. One of the most common is about charging.
“There’s some lingo around the charging infrastructure. In general, we talk about L1, L2, L3. So, when we say L1, that’s like plugging it into any plug around your house.”
That takes a long time.
The L2 is probably the most common as they are the ones becoming a more familiar sight in parking garages and at stores like Ikea. They are faster and if you have a hookup for a washer and dryer you already have an L2 in your house.
The L3 is the fast one, also known as DCFC, for directcurrent fast charger (or might be a CHADEMO, or combined charging station). But if you have a Tesla, you will need an adaptor because the only supercharger location is in Enfield, N.S., at the Big Stop.
If you need one, just ask in the Facebook group, because someone will probably have an adaptor they can lend you.
‘SEE HOW COOL IT IS’
Jérémie Bernardin is another co-founder of EVAAC and is currently the vice president of sales at ALLEV, a business with locations in P.E.I. and Nova Scotia which provides EV education along with sales and service.
He estimates there are close to 600 EVS on the road in Nova Scotia (for context, in 2020, almost 40,000 new vehicles were sold in the province) but there are currently no official numbers. Most electric vehicle sales are in the provinces with the most generous incentives, so it is expected the incentive introduced last month in Nova Scotia will increase sales.
Bernardin was also one of the founders of Nextride, billed as a “not-for-profit low carbon transportation initiative.” The campaign allowed people to test drive electric cars to “see how cool it is.”
The idea behind the Nextride initiative is like that behind EVAAC.
Maggie Woolsey-gray does outreach for the group but she calls it the “fun and games committee.”
One of the events she organized for the group is a trip to the Tesla supercharger for a cleanup. She said they adopted it on behalf of Tesla owners.
“It stems back to why we drive electric cars because we’re not contributing further emissions to the environment and we want to keep our environment looking nice.”
ENVIRONMENTAL FOCUS
The environment is a common thread among members of EVAAC.
“I have two young kids now and I do what I can to hopefully make the future a better place than how we left. I don’t think it’s actually possible for us to leave it as a better place than we found it at this point, but at least I can help mitigate the damage,” says Sampson.
The group also does a road trip to the Cabot Trail called Charge the Trail that is sponsored by Hyundai. There is a competition for awards for whoever is the most efficient, which translates to who used the least amount of watt hours per kilometre.
Sometimes, when they meet up, they play a new form of poker.
One time, they drove from Summerside to Charlottetown and made stops along the way.
“Whenever we got there, we just opened up our ‘frunk.’ And then people pick their card, and we noted it down and, and then did like a little poker run,” says Woolseygrey.
Teslas do not have engines so the front hood opens to an empty space just like a trunk, hence it is called a frunk.
Electric cars are still a small percentage of total vehicle sales (most vehicle sales are non-electric SUVS) but recent Statistics Canada numbers show sales are rapidly increasing. Most major car manufacturers have committed to increasing production of electric cars.
Woolsey-gray became one of the first Tesla owners in Atlantic Canada when she got her car three years ago, when the EVAAC group had only five members.
“Yeah, it’s been interesting how the group has grown from like about five or six people up to almost 1,000 members now. Just, that’s really cool,” she said.