By Bill Franklin

The Electric Vehicle revolution is everywhere, featured in news headlines, YouTube EV Road reviews, endlessly analyzed in business publications, pursued and promoted by politicians. This amazing sea change after 120 years of the internal combustion engine (ICE) has inspired city councils to mandate fleet services switch to electric. Alas, this is where the rubber hits the road, and reality and reason collide with aspirations.

The City of Saskatoon’s Parking management is a client of our company and approached us to evaluate the feasibility of switching their LPR vehicles to all electric. We already had installed autoChalk LPR on electric vehicles elsewhere and it had minimal impact. But cold temperatures significantly impact battery performance and increase a vehicle’s energy consumption. We were intrigued to join them as part of
their analysis.

Since the internal combustion engine has been around for over a century, engineers and manufacturers have improved both the engines and vehicles to face extreme cold. At times Saskatoon dips to minus 50°C yet their diesel- and gas-powered vehicles, trucks, tractors, snowplows, SUVs are out in the field doing their job. 

What then should be expected of an electric vehicle?

• Operates in temperatures from -50°C to +40°C.

• Runs all day on a tank of fuel or an electric charge.

• Starts up reliability every morning and runs all day, month after month.

• Is comfortable to drive, has storage space, can have equipment mounted to it (e.g., License Plate Recognition equipment).

• Fleet services can maintain it and get parts.

• Purchase price of CAD$40,000 or less for an EV SUV.

• Maintenance cost is reasonable.

• Infrastructure cost is affordable.

Tesla and Nissan have been producing electric cars and SUVs for fifteen years and Toyota has sold the very successful Prius hybrid…

By Kent Rathwell

A story brought to you by the Founder of Sun Country – Winner of the World’s Best Automotive Solution of the Year and Canada’s Greenest Manufacturer of the Year Award, for electrifying the entire Trans-Canada Highway in 2012 with EV charging stations and virtually all of Canada’s highways in 2013, making Canada the world leader in EV infrastructure many times over!

Airports that offer complimentary EV charging make more money by encouraging EV driving customers to park their EVs while they travel rather than having friends, family or car hires bring them to and from the airport. 

Based on actual facts and experiences, this story will take you through two scenarios that demonstrate how this can be the case for your local airport.  

Imagine this…

It’s winter holidays and I’m relaxing on the beach with my family, stress-free and focused on quality family time with the kids. It’s warm and I’m away from the cold Canadian winter (which I love by the way) … but it is so nice to have a warm holiday! 

While talking to another Canadian I just met at the beach bar, they say a cold snap just hit back home and how lucky we are to be in the warmth, by the sea, with no cares in the world! 

This is where this story goes one of two ways. One of happiness, confidence, thankfulness, and peace for the whole family or … one of fear, frustration, hopelessness, and anger.

The airport where I parked my EV will now determine the rest of my holiday, my family’s happiness, our stress, our memories and if we ever pay to park at that airport again! 

The one story will encourage us to tell all our EV…