Automobile manufacturers are going green with the production of energy-efficient and electric models, but local consumers aren’t buying.
The Chevrolet Volt, General Motors’ first plug-in hybrid-electric car, has been available in St. Albert for roughly 10 weeks with only one buyer.
The Volt runs entirely on battery power until the charge drops, then an electric generator kicks in to keep the vehicle rolling.
“It’s still a bit early in the game for us,” said Gerald Bachand, new sales manager at St. Albert’s Ron Hodgson Chevrolet Buick GMC dealer. “The sales rate isn’t quite where GM hoped it would be, but they understand that it does take longer to get people familiar.”
GM began production of the Volt in late 2010, taking Canadian orders in May 2011. Since breaking into the Canadian market, 814 vehicles have been sold with the newest model starting at $41,545.
Bachand said the market is limited but added he is confident sales will increase. Nearly eight weeks after sitting on the sales floor, the first of two Volts in Ron Hodgson’s inventory was purchased.
“We’ve had lots of people come out and try it. The response has been good,” he said. “It’s such a totally different thing from what people are used to.”
He said GM’s hybrid options, using internal combustion engines combined with electric batteries, are losing popularity, primarily because of the steep sticker price.
“The regular hybrid is not that popular simply because, for the small amount of gas savings involved, at the end of the day, people aren’t willing to spend the extra money to go hybrid,” he said. “The Volt, I think, will cause a kind of a revolution in the way people think.”
Auto-sector analyst Dennis DesRosiers said hybrid car sales spiked shortly after they were introduced in Canada but experienced a decline soon after. He said he expects the electric-car market to follow suit, especially in Alberta where interest is stagnant.
“The core problem is that the electric technology hasn’t advanced enough where consumers don’t have to compromise on their ideal when they buy one,” he said. “You pay more, but you get less. You do save on fuel, but you have to compromise.”
Four vehicle manufacturers are currently competing with their electric models.
Ford began production of its first electric model in Dec. 2011. The Ford Focus Electric – a 100-per-cent electric car operating on a high-voltage, lithium-ion battery – starts at $37,477.
Nissan’s Leaf, another 100-per-cent electric model operating on a lithium-ion battery, broke into the Canadian market in Nov. 2011. The Leaf starts at $38,395 and has seen total Canadian sales of 307 since its release.
Mitsubishi released its fully-electric i-MiEV in Canada in Dec. 2011. Priced at $32,998, the vehicle has sold 138 units in Canada since its debut.
DesRosiers said manufacturers still struggle with weight, range and battery technology and said it will take 15 to 25 years to overcome these barriers.
Rob Harlan, executive director of the Solar Energy Society of Alberta (SESA), said there is a market – albeit a small one – for electric cars in Alberta.
He said, however, that Alberta will experience added difficulty in encouraging consumers to go electric.
In contrast, British Columbia has a strong interest in electric cars because residents benefit from affordable electricity with a clean generation base, he said.
“It’s dominated by hydroelectricity, so there aren’t a lot of carbon emissions [and] global warming gases involved with British Columbia’s electricity, so it’s a nice match to have electric cars,” he said.
This compares to Alberta’s primarily coal-based electrical generation, which he said is “quite dirty” with costs continuing to climb.
Despite these factors, he said the consumer base for electric cars continues to expand, as do the options available to them.
“The technology is there, and with electric vehicles, the limiting factor has almost always been range,” he said. “The range has gotten much better and probably will continue to do better.”
