As gas prices hover at exorbitantly high prices, Squamish drivers might be looking to swap out their gas or diesel-guzzling vehicle for an electric car.
Driving an electric vehicle today isn’t as difficult as it was in the past as battery life lasts longer, and electric vehicle charging ports become more common. Even in Squamish, right now there are seven places to charge electric vehicles, according to plugshare.com, a website that maps the charging stations all over the world. At least four of them are free, including one at Squamish municipal hall.
But how environmentally friendly these electric cars are has to do with more than cutting down on gas.
Electric cars are as clean as the energy used to charge them, says Zuomin Dong, professor, and chair of the mechanical engineering department at the University of Victoria. In places like the interior of the U.S., or other areas that rely heavily on coal to light up the power grid, electric vehicles are not likely to be an environmentally-friendly solution.
Other renewable energy options, like a solar-powered car, are not quite as viable. Right now, the only solar-powered vehicle that could get enough energy to run would be a bicycle with a glass roof in the desert, Dong said with a laugh.
But nearly 80 per cent of the energy in the province is hydroelectric, and the pollution from this type of energy is minimal, making B.C. an excellent market for cars powered by electricity, he said.
“What we have in B.C. is an almost ideal location for using the electric vehicle,” Dong said. “In addition to a clean energy source, we have a very mild temperature change. We don’t get very hot or very cold. In both (of those) cases it’s very difficult to run.”
Some environmental impact from the batteries is expected, he said, but the more harmful nickel batteries aren’t as commonly used today, and lithium batteries are safer. But determining whether an electric car is environmentally-friendly is best measured from “well to wheel,” meaning they assess the environmental impact from the origin of the energy out to how the car is used on the road.
Another area the industry will be looking to in the future is how to expand the life of the batteries so owners can drive them longer and further, something Dong and his team are studying at UVic. In the future, the industry will be looking to create more electric-powered boats, trucks, ferries, and large commercial trucks.
Another challenge the industry will be facing is expanding the capacity of the power grid. For now, there is enough to meet the demands, but if everyone switched to electric cars today, B.C. would need about a 50 per cent increase to power the vehicles, according to Dong. The industry would also be unlikely to keep up with battery production.
There would also need to be more places to recharge.
If Maxime Charron of Drive Energy has his say, there will be more EV charging stations in Squamish in the future.
Charron installs charging infrastructure for a living. In his work with architects, electrical engineers, and developers, he says he keeps hearing the same questions about electric vehicles. That’s why he’s hosting the “EV Talks” info session in the second week of July to talk to homeowners and business owners about what installing a private electric charging station might look like, and some of the reasons someone might choose to go electric.
“Really, it is going to be a cost-saving in the long-term, especially if people are commuting or doing a lot of mileage. (And) lower maintenance, you can plug it in at home,” he said. “There’s also the fact that it will decentralize the energy industry.”
As someone who owns an electric vehicle himself, Charron says he’s never going back to a regular car. The cost savings over time is a major factor for him.
A final date for the Squamish EV Talks event had not been set by print deadline.
