The first ever electric vehicle (EV) show in Northwestern Ontario was held at Lakehead University (LU), with around 25 EV owners attending the event.
As part of LUs Year of Climate Action, it gave students, staff, faculty and members of the public the opportunity to educate themselves on EVs and the benefits they have on the environment.
Partnering with LU on the event is the Electric Vehicle Association of Northern Ontario, a citizens’ group who help educate citizens on the importance of switching away from vehicles that rely on gasoline. Other partners for the event included EarthCare, Fridays for Future Thunder Bay, Fossil Free Lakehead, the Lakehead University Student Union Sustainability Initiative, and Citizens United for a Sustainable Planet.
One of the organizers Ken Shields gives a little more information about the event.
“What we’re doing is gathering as many electric vehicles as we can of many different types,” explains Shields. “To get in here in this little parking space, you have to be able to plug in, and have to travel some distance under full electric power. Most of the vehicles here are fully electric, and a number of them are plug in hybrid EVs.”
One of the largest topics of conversation at the event was the cost of EVs, with a significant portion of the population believing they are much more expensive than a gas fueled car.
Laura Mason is a coordinator with the event and says in the long run, this might not be the case.
“I’ve read that a Toyota Corolla would be a comparable price over the life of the car to my car, a base model Tesla 3,” says Mason. “That car cost me about $55,000, but I used to pay for about $200 in gas a month. Now, when I charge my car at home, I get about 350 kilometers for about four dollars.”
Mason goes on to say that it is actually easier to find charging stations than many people believe, with a variety of apps that could direct you to one nearby right here in Thunder Bay. Along with this, organizers are hoping to make the event an annual affair, and even plan to take it indoors depending on how the pandemic plays out.
The event concluded with an EV “parade” that went from the LU parking lot to Thunder Bay City Hall.
According to Statistics Canada, the third quarter of 2020 saw 3.5 per cent of the new vehicles registered in Canada being zero-emission vehicles. The vast majority of these (95.4 per cent) were registered in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.
Tesla Model 3 (STAFF PHOTO)
Organizers Laura Mason (Left) and Ken Shields (Right) (STAFF PHOTO)
