In 2018, Brian Sexton decided to replace his diesel vehicle with an electric vehicle. His motivation: save money.
“In our case, it was really finances driven – economics,” said the Lethbridge, Alta resident. “We cut our fuel costs in half from a super-efficient diesel or gas vehicle to this vehicle.”
Sexton said there was some misunderstanding about the costs associated with electric vehicles. He bought his 2015 used Nissan Leaf for around $ 17,500.
“When we thought of electric vehicles, we thought of Tesla, and we thought we were expensive,” he said. “When we looked a little closer, we found that there was a second-hand market and the prices were reasonable.”
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Aside from saving money on gasoline, Sexton says his car requires very little maintenance and is pretty reliable in the winter.
He says driving an electric vehicle in a city the size of Lethbridge is very doable just by charging it at home.
“It takes a couple of hours to charge, but like your cell phone, you just plug it in at night and go for your evening or go to bed.”
Lethbridge has a handful of charging points in locations like the ATB Center and the Health Unit downtown.
“The Peaks to Prairies project has gone to really great lengths to expand the number of charging stations in southern Alberta, not just in Lethbridge,” said Kathleen Sheppard. “So the infrastructure is there.”
Sheppard, Executive Director of Environment Lethbridge, welcomes growing interest in electric cars in Canada. She said they go hand in hand with reducing emissions.
1:39The Alberta government announces funding for the electric vehicle network
Alberta Government Announces Funding for Electric Vehicle Network – February 4, 2019
“It can sometimes be difficult for individuals to figure out what is the right thing to do,” she explained, “and we may all drive a lot more than we should, so that way people can reduce their emissions.”
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In May 2019, the federal government introduced the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles Program (iZEV), which provides up to $ 5,000 to incentivize the purchase of zero-emission vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
“Growth comes naturally just because electric vehicles are now available and proven, but now we (the governments that support that) have politics,” Sexton said.
“It’s small, but it’s growing.”
“After a few years with (hybrid) vehicles, we now have a lot of people asking for these vehicles,” said Rick Gharzeddine, General Sales Manager of Lethbridge Mitsubishi.
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“Hybrid vehicles accelerate in the right direction.”
Gharzeddine believes that while gasoline cars are still at the top of sales, hybrid and electric cars will become increasingly popular over time.
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