City residents can learn how to drive electric this week by going to an electric- car rally in Edmonton.
Thousands of shoppers will get an up-close look and some time behind the wheel of scores of electric cars this Sept. 12 as the Electric Vehicle Association of Alberta holds a rally at Edmonton’s Southgate Centre.
Southgate is the first shopping mall in Edmonton to offer free electric car charging for its customers, says mall spokesperson Claire Kolmatycki. The chargers have been used about 225 times since they went live this January.
The rally is part of National Drive Electric Week, says event organizer Andrew Bell.
“It’s a celebration showing off the emerging technology of plug-in vehicles.”
Unlike last year’s Drive the Future Expo at NAIT, this event focuses exclusively on plug-in electric cars and not hydrogen, hybrid or biofuel-powered cars, Bell says.
Bell expects at least 13 cars at the event, including Teslas, Chevy Volts, Cadillac ELRs, Nissan Leafs and the first Kia Soul EV in Alberta.
St. Albert’s Ron Simonsmeier says he plans to be there with his crimson Tesla Model S – one of at three such electric vehicles he knew of in St. Albert.
“It’s a great car, and I’m happy people are buying it.”
Electric cars produce zero tailpipe emissions and are cheaper to drive than regular ones, Simonsmeier says.
“I don’t have any oil changes or filter changes, and my energy cost is about a quarter that of gas.”
A July 2015 report from Simon Fraser University found that electric cars produce about 45 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline-powered cars in Alberta despite the province’s coal-heavy power grid. It also found that about one-third of Canadian drivers were interested in buying an electric car.
Guests at the rally will get to see the cars up close and talk to the owners about them. A local Ford dealership will also be offering test drives of electric cars.
Electric cars reduce your carbon footprint and, due to their instant acceleration, are fun to drive, Bell says.
“You can’t help but get that EV-grin when you stomp on the accelerator.”
The event is in the mall’s southeast parking lot from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit driveelectricweek.org for details.
Some of North America’s top minds are coming to Edmonton next week to help chart a path to Alberta’s low-carbon future.
About 300 people are expected to come to the Chateau Lacombe Wednesday for the 2015 Alberta Climate Summit. Organized by the Pembina Institute, it brings government, industry, and civil society members together to talk about how Alberta can reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.
This event has been in the works for months, and it’s a lucky coincidence that it’s happening just one week after the Alberta Climate Change Advisory Panel’s open house on climate change in Edmonton, said Simon Dyer, spokesperson for Pembina.
“Energy and the environment is one of the critical files that Alberta faces,” Dyer says, and the province has made a commitment to refresh its approach to climate change.
Topics at the forum include carbon pricing, climate change and jobs, how to phase out coal power, and renewable electricity.
Jesse Row of the Alberta Energy Efficiency Alliance will moderate a panel on energy efficiency.
“Energy efficiency is a way where we can reduce emissions while saving money at the same time,” he says, and is part of pretty much every emissions strategy out there.
Dyer hopes guests at the summit will take what they learn and forward ideas to the province’s climate advisory panel.
The panel runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Sept. 9. Tickets are $125. Visit pembina.org for more information.
