Hydro – All about car

Tesla Model 3Tesla Michael Stanyer has driven a battery-powered vehicle from his Vancouver home to Tofino and to the Kootenays and he has no fear of being stranded without a charging station. “It’s something you have to plan for,” he said. “It’s totally doable.” He said there are 1,000 charging stations in British Columbia and “it’s rare that you would be more than 100 kilometres away from a charging station.” His 2017 Volkswagen E Golf can go about 200 km on a single charge in city driving, though that changes if he drives into higher elevations, for instance. Stanyer, a program coordinator for Plug In B.C., may be bolder than most at venturing beyond their commute in an EV. A B.C. Hydro survey found “range anxiety” is keeping almost 70 per cent of drivers from buying an electric vehicle, according to an online survey done for the energy agency by Angus Reid and released June 14. But B.C. Hydro said they needn’t worry, as the majority of road trips taken by people in B.C. are within the range that most newer vehicles can travel on a single charge. “Most trips are 300 km one way, so it’s well within the range of a single charge,” said B.C. Hydro spokeswoman Tanya Fish. The survey found respondents were concerned about the availability of charging stations and also worried that having to stop to recharge the battery would significantly add to the length of a trip. Fish said there are about 170 fast-charging stations, 58 belonging to B.C. Hydro, that can top up a battery to within 80 per cent capacity within 30 minutes. There is access to the fast-charging stations along the most-travelled highways in the province, including between Vancouver and Kelowna, Abbotsford and Whistler, Victoria and Tofino, and Revelstoke and Cranbrook, she said. And 96 per cent of BC Hydro’s fast-charging stations are within 300 metres of a major road or highway and 80 per cent are within 50 metres of other services, such as food, washrooms or other shopping, she said. And there are an additional 1,000 “level 2” public charging stations in the province, which take about four to six hours to restore a battery, said Fish. EV sales doubled in B.C. the first three months of this year, compared to the first quarter in 2018, and they make up 15 per cent of new car sales. That’s double the national average. There are about 20,000 EVs in BC. The average EV has a range of about 250 km and that is expected to increase to 440 km by 2022. The majority of out-of-town trips B.C. drivers take are under 300 km, B.C. Hydro
Origin: Don’t fear taking your EV for a summer road trip: B.C. Hydro

A Ford Fusion Energi electric vehicle being recharged at a charging station.Handout / Ford The longer your commute, the more you save by driving an electric vehicle, according to a survey released Friday by B.C. Hydro. The provincial power utility estimates that consumers could save thousands of dollars a year by switching from a vehicle powered by fossil fuels to one powered by electricity. A commuter driving the 80-km round trip from Surrey to Vancouver, for example, would spend $409 a year in an electric Nissan Leaf, according to the survey. Driving a fossil-fuelled Honda Civic would cost an estimated $2,200, or about $1,700 more a year; a Toyota RV4, $2,519, or $2,000 more; and a Ford F-150, $3,779, or $3,200 more. The B.C. Hydro calculations are based on an electric vehicle costing the equivalent of 25 cents a litre in gasoline. Gasbuddy.com on Thursday listed 10 gas stations in Vancouver with per-litre prices ranging from $1.55 to $1.66. “Fuelling costs for an electric vehicle are about 80 per cent less,” said Tanya Fish, a senior media relations adviser for B.C. Hydro. “The more you drive, the more you save on your fuelling costs.” Fish said B.C. Hydro wanted to look at the cost of commuting with an electric vehicle given that gasoline prices are so high in Metro Vancouver. “It’s very topical,” she said. “I think more and more people are exploring the switch to electric vehicles given that they’ll save significantly on fuelling and maintenance.” Fish said B.C. Hydro reported that last April that there were slightly fewer than 9,000 electric vehicles on the road. Now there are about 18,000. By 2030, B.C. Hydro estimates there will be about 350,000 electric vehicles in the province. They will use the equivalent of 1,050 gigawatts hours per year of energy—the same amount of power used by 97,000 homes. “It’s something we’re planning for to ensure we can handle the load on the system,” she said. She said B.C. Hydro plans to add another 23 fast-charging electric vehicle charging stations this year to the existing network of 58. A fast-charge station can charge an electric vehicle to 80 per cent in 30 minutes or less. The province estimates that consumers can choose from among 44 clean energy vehicles in B.C. priced at $33,000 to $50,000, before incentives. The lowest EV starts at about $29,000. Norway expects 50 per cent of new car sales this year will be electric. In March, the country set a new record with electric vehicles comprising 58.4 per cent of all new car
Origin: Driving an electric vehicle saves you big bucks: B.C. Hydro survey