A lot of cool stuff there that will get cost reduced to oblivion. The guy clearly has a lot of ideas in his head. What are the odds this actually goes to production?
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I bet if you played it right and got involved you could get enough proxy’s to push it through without anyone noticing before it was too late.
Pretty tough. Its not legal in Alberta to use reserve fund money to make an upgrade or install a new amenity. So that would only work if you had enough money in operating to cover the entire cost, which given how expensive it is is vanishingly unlikely.
Also, it isn't just running wires we're talking about here. Many/most buildings (especially older ones) aren't sized for that. That means upgrading the service, adding switchgear, etc.
If there isn't enough in operating, that would require a special levy. And since its for an upgrade you'd need to pass a special resolution, the board couldn't just do it. The chances of getting 75% of unit factors to agree to that is zero, imo. So basically you're limited to buildings that could find the entire project out of operating surplus, which won't be many.
I was on one board where someone wanted it installed. The cost was going to be prohibitive to do everything, and the board offered to let him pay for his own. The electrical service was in the parkade, so he could have upgraded his own service (from 100A to 200A) and paid to have wiring installed to his parking spot. Once he found out the cost (thousands of dollars) he wasn't interested.
Getting people who don't have electric cars to fund thousands in spending for those who do is going to be a losing battle in Alberta condos for a long time.
Was just saying this to a friend. Why do they insist on designing EVs to look like a Japanese appliance from Daiso? Why does it have to be so round and plastic looking? Are they not able to make it look like a normal car, but have it electric instead of gas? It's either that or something out of an 80's scifi movie of what the future car will look like.
Was just saying this to a friend. Why do they insist on designing EVs to look like a Japanese appliance from Daiso? Why does it have to be so round and plastic looking? Are they not able to make it look like a normal car, but have it electric instead of gas? It's either that or something out of an 80's scifi movie of what the future car will look like.
I mean I kind of get it; electric cars need to have their own thing going for them. Strictly mimicking a gas vehicle's design is a missed opportunity for designers to do something different. The grill on the front of an ICE-powered car, for example, is purposefully there to cool the engine. You don't need a grill sucking up air with an electric car, so you can omit that design feature.
Though I will say I appreciate the early Tesla Model S for having the design element present while ensuring it wasn't buggering with the aerodynamics.
That does illustrate a good point in how governments are going to capture the cost of road maintenance for EV's like they do now for traditional vehicles. Maybe it's this, maybe it's an electrical surcharge (not sure how) or maybe it's time to change the whole model of funding infrastructure but it's something that needs to be considered. With current battery technology EV's weigh significantly more than internal combustion vehicles and therefore wear and tear on roads is higher. That means increased road maintenance costs.
Hard to find exact numbers but it looks like the average SUV weight is 2100kg. Here's five Tesla models:
Model X Long Range – 2459 kg
Tesla Model S Performance – 2241 kg
Tesla Model S Long Range – 2215 kg
Model 3 Performance – 1847 kg
Model Y Long range - 2003 kg
Average: 2153
Not much difference. Naturally if you factor in gasoline sedans etc. that brings the average down. But same for EVs if you drop in the lower priced models.
Weights from here except the Y random google search.
That does illustrate a good point in how governments are going to capture the cost of road maintenance for EV's like they do now for traditional vehicles. Maybe it's this, maybe it's an electrical surcharge (not sure how) or maybe it's time to change the whole model of funding infrastructure but it's something that needs to be considered. With current battery technology EV's weigh significantly more than internal combustion vehicles and therefore wear and tear on roads is higher. That means increased road maintenance costs.
The vast majority of road wear is from heavier trucks anyway.
But yes, fuel taxes are going to have to be shifted somewhere else, and should be done across the board.
Seems like they are indeed heavier, on average based on articles like this.
Another unintended consequence of EV's the the overall increase in vehicle size that is occurring. Maybe not as big an issue in North America but it is raising eyebrows in Europe. Small vehicles compose a large portion of the vehicle fleet in Europe. For economic reasons and also practical reasons EV manufacturers are not making many of these small vehicles, most tend to be larger. It could add up to increased congestion, parking issues etc. as larger vehicles begin to make up a larger portion of the fleet.
I don't mind this idea of an EV tax if it isn't captured in the current fuel tax model, but is there a way to augment your contribution based on usage/car type? E.g. Some electric vehicles coming out are huge pickup trucks with towing capacity, and therefore would stand to reason their impact on road degradation may be higher.
Also, a flat rate may not be helpful enough given that the market share of EV's is likely going to increase over time. I am wondering if there is a tax/modifier on an initial purchase of the vehicle, plus the home-charging setup.
I'm not sure what the right answer is here but my gut is that a flat rate for everyone isn't going to be the fairest method.
The fairest way would be a per km charge based on vehicle weight, but that would mean having some way to monitor that, with all the privacy issues that go with it. You could reduce gas taxes so they are more of a straight carbon tax, and charge petrol vehicles the same way. Maybe every year you need to have your km read, like you need a smog check in some places.
We kind of stumbled into a fairly balanced system through fuel taxes, given larger vehicles consume more and pay more, but now we need a new system entirely.
The fairest way would be a per km charge based on vehicle weight, but that would mean having some way to monitor that, with all the privacy issues that go with it. You could reduce gas taxes so they are more of a straight carbon tax, and charge petrol vehicles the same way. Maybe every year you need to have your km read, like you need a smog check in some places.
We kind of stumbled into a fairly balanced system through fuel taxes, given larger vehicles consume more and pay more, but now we need a new system entirely.
I would be for a straight KM used cost - kind of like how you claim vehicle expenses but in reverse. Say 5 cents a KM or something.
This could be done in the background and you are sent a bill once a year / month for your cars usage. Destination information could be stripped out of the info stream and you are just charged on Raw KMs.
Problem I see with the above is when you are registered in SK but drive in AB does your tax money go to SK or do we need to tag mileage used with location and the money dispersed that way?
I think you still want a vehicle weight multiplier. A Hummer pays more gas tax than a Civic because it is heavier and uses more fuel, so covers extra road damage. A Hummer EV is going to cause more damage than a little Renault Zoe. I think it's appropriate(and a bit of a motivator) to charge the heavier vehicles more.
I don't think you need to worry about border crossing vehicles. It all kind of works out in the end. Only having access to KM totals, not location info would be ideal for privacy reasons.
