It was released a couple weeks ago in Europe and will soon be released in the US. No word if there are going to be any dealers carrying them in Canada.
There are lots of smaller companies making far more environmentally friendly cars than the ones on this list. New players to the game and/or small European companies. This seems to be a ploy to sell more cars from the major players.
I want something fully electric because I am with Bullfrog power (only hydro/wind/solar power) therefore the scooter is 100% emissions free. (BTW -for the 3 or 4 Albertans that care about global warming, Bullfrog is expanding to your province). However, there is *NOTHING* fully electric on the federal list. I checked the Ontario provincial rebate and they offer $1,000 for any fully electric car and $2,000 for a hybrid vehicle. How stupid is that?!!? A hybrid has half-emissions while my scooter is going to have zero emissions.
My only guess is that they figure that people that care enough to go out and find a fully electric vehicle somewhere off the beaten path already are motivated to purchase something non-polluting and don't need a financial incentive.
BTW - I certainly realize that a scooter doesn't cost as much as a car. But I thought a motor vehicle that I'll be driving to work every day would qualify for some kind of rebate, even if it was half or 1/3rd of what it would be for a car.
It depends on how the electricity is generated of course.
If you are asking about if we are just moving from a tailpipe to a smoke-stack, if you watched "Who killed the Electric Car" the EV1, even if charged using the dirtiest coal generating plant in the U.S., it would have created half the emissions. This is due to a number of factors including the inefficiency of the combustion engine. But I'm not happy with half. If I was happy with half, I'd consider a hybrid.
That may have been overboard, but you must admit that the calls for more action on climate change are typically coming from eastern Canada and the west coast... there seem to be far more "doubting thomas"s in western Canada.
That may have been overboard, but you must admit that the calls for more action on climate change are typically coming from eastern Canada and the west coast...
That may be true, but you must admit that eastern Canada and the west coast have done as much as Albertans have, which is nothing.
As for the scooter, it says it makes "no noise". That sounds (no pun intended) kind of dangerous.
A vehicle like that just isn't practical from an Albertans standpoint though, how many months out of the year is one going to be able to drive one of those. May through September? In terms of overall bang for the buck it does make more sense to give $2000 for a vehicle that will be used every month of the year and can be used for longer trips for instance. It at least makes more sense that giving $2000+ for a summer vehicle that the majority of the people won't be able to drive during the winter and depending on the area of the country in the spring/summer as well (Vancouver for instance).
As mentioned I really didn't expect the same rebate that a car would. I was just rather surprised that the federal program was not similar to the Ontario provincial program where they look at each application vehicle individually. For example, in the federal program there isn't *ANYTHING* for any electric vehicle, 2 or 4 wheeled.
And while the Ontario program does allow electric vehicles to get a rebate, it is much less than what a hybrid would get. Which boggles my mind.
Electric cars still have to run on electricity which still has to be generated somehow. Instead of having 1 car pollute, you have a smokestack from an electricity generating plant generating that much electricity. Which pollutes more?
As for the scooter, it says it makes "no noise". That sounds (no pun intended) kind of dangerous.
That's an old wives tale that 'loud pipes save lives' perpertrated by bikers who like loud pipes. Most of the times you don't hear the bike until it passes you and than you can see and hear the bike, as the sound is directed out the back. What I'd like on my bike is a good semi truck horn, .......
You're right... because the government should make a policy based on you, and you alone.
The vast majority do not have 100% clean electricity.. and this is who the policies would be designed for.
But I already mentioned that smokestacks are better than tailpipes. First, modern electricity generating plants have millions of dollars worth of scrubbers and emission treatments before things go out the stack which are not on cars. Secondly the combustion engine is incredibly inefficient at converting gas into energy when compared to an electrical plant.
In a study conducted by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, EVs were significantly cleaner over the course of 100,000 miles than ICE cars. The electricity generation process produces less than 100 pounds of pollutants for EVs compared to 3000 pounds for ICE vehicles. (See Table 3)
CO2 emissions are also significantly lower. Over the course of 100,000 miles, CO2 emissions from EVs are projected to be 10 tons versus 35 tons for ICE vehicles (5). Many EV critics remain skeptical of such findings because California's mix of power plants is relatively clean compared to that in the rest of the country. However, in Arizona where 67 percent of power plants are coal-fired, a study concluded that EVs would reduce greenhouse gases such as CO2 by 71 percent (6).
Similar comparisons to those in California and Arizona can be found in the northeastern part of the country where the majority of power plants are coal-fired. A study conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that EVs in the Northeast would reduce CO emissions by 99.8 percent, volatile organic compounds (VOC) by 90 percent, NOx by 80 percent, and CO2 by as much as 60 percent (7). According to the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) study, use of EVs results in significant reductions of carbon monoxide, greenhouse gases, and ground level ozone in the region, with magnitudes cleaner than even the cleanest ULEV.
So there you have it. Even areas that are using dirty coal, the electric car creates far less CO2 than a hybrid.
Electric cars still have to run on electricity which still has to be generated somehow. Instead of having 1 car pollute, you have a smokestack from an electricity generating plant generating that much electricity. Which pollutes more?
As mentioned above not all electricty is generated the same way, some from very clean sources. So as a first concern, on average, your saving a lot of pollution and greenhouse gasses there.
Second, electric engines tend to be more efficient than combustion engines. You'll use less energy in general.
Three, even if your electricty is coming from a coal buring plant, at least the pollution is staying away from the cities where it is tending to collect (because of combustion vehicles). Making it easier for the environment to absorb the C02 back into the system, and keeping our cities a little bit cleaner.
does someone know if there is some sorta rebate/incentive from AB or Canada government, where you get $100-200 back rebate if you've bought an electric bike?
fyi, there is a store that specializes in selling ebikes or just ebike packages to be installed on bikes, they're in Eau Claire market called Power in motion. www.powerinmotion.ca
I want something fully electric because I am with Bullfrog power (only hydro/wind/solar power) therefore the scooter is 100% emissions free.
there's no such thing as 100% emission free..... Construction of these projects produced considerable emissions as does on going maintainence. Yeah it's a technicality but there's no such thing as 100% emission free.
Not to mention hydro/wind/solar all have negative attributes as well.
I've come to the realization that there is no point in doing anything good anymore because the only thanks you get is criticism from those doing nothing calling you a hypocrite for not doing more.
Dan, I would love to hear how your court case goes against Vectrix for false advertising on the "zero emissions" thing.
I've come to the realization that there is no point in doing anything good anymore because the only thanks you get is criticism from those doing nothing calling you a hypocrite for not doing more.
If you're only doing it to get thanks, you're doing it for all the wrong reasons.
Mother Nature (the one who would be helped by this) will never thank you.
Federal "Clean Car" rebate
