Canada Kills the Electric Car

[kgrandia]

The Canadian government has killed a B.C. electric auto company, forcing the owner to shut down and sell his technology and tools to a company in Pakistan.

Canadian and American administrations have said, repeatedly, that they cannot "afford" to take action against climate change because it would damage our (oil-dependent) economy. But, as this action shows, the Harper administration in Ottawa is not really interested in protecting the "economy." Rather, it is supporting - actually legislating - our continued dependence on the government's oil-industry supporters, and standing in the way of any opportunity to lead the world in electric vehicle innovation.

http://www.desmogblog.com/who-killed-the-electric-car-again

[GliderGuider]

1. Ontario won't license electric cars for use on public roads

Even though Zenn Motors operates out of Toronto, they have to take their cars to Quebec for testing.

[phantom power]

3. Why not?

[GliderGuider]

5. That is entirely unclear

Although I think it has something to do with large auto plants in Oshawa and St. Thomas.

Ontario's governments have taken a back seat only to Alberta's in kowtowing to the oil and car companies.

[kgrandia]

6. ZENN

Is a very cool company. Saw a report on them a while ago.

I am in Vancouver, and I see mopeds all over the place. How does a moped get to drive around, but these cars cannot?

[GliderGuider]

7. Different rules for different classes of vehicles

It's similar to having different drivers license requirements for bicycles, scooters, motorcycles and cars.

I found out last week that Ontario has a speed limit for bicycles. I heard this from a fellow who was wheeling an electric-mod bicycle down our apartment hallway. He wanted to put a pair of li-ion batteries in series on it, but there was no point because it would go too fast.

[phantom power]

2. Shame. He doesn't say *how*, and his link is broken.

[bananas]

8. I think this is the correct link

His broken link had "transport canada rules" in it, so I googled for that.
It's a lengthy article, 4 web-pages long.

"Transport Canada rules finish off electric car"
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=3abc4a85-41e9-457c-8e10-77cb381d4059

[GliderGuider]

9. That's quite a story

I hadn't realized the EV situation here in Canada had gotten so grim. What is it about governmentn that attracts these kinds of bozos? I guess the best way to demonstrate your power is to prohibit something...

[Nederland]

4. Something's Fishy

Zenn motors was connected to EEStor, a company that has perennially claimed to have a breakthrough energy storage device but never actually produced a working example--leading many even here to call it a scam. Also, the Zenn car was legal in the US, so it's not like the lack of a large legal market for their product was the problem...

[Dead_Parrot]

10. I'm afraid the give-a-fuck-o-meter isn't registering much

Firstly, Dynasty, the company in question, still has it's head office in Canada, and the vehicles are still available in Canada. ZENN and CEV haven't felt the need to lay off the workforce and get cheap labour in the far east (yet, anyway) so I don't think that's down to Harper's goons - just good old fashioned outsourcing.



Secondly, the vehicles seem to be specifically designed for unnecessary car trips: The suggested uses fron Dynasty and ZENN include Universities, Industrial complexes, Gated Communities, Resorts, Military bases etc: All places where, let's face it, you could fucking walk.



The only one dropping off the list under the new rules are urban areas where "Based on these standards, an LSV is considered safe for operation on public roads where the posted speed is 35 mph or less" apart from 55 in BC: And in case you hadn't noticed, '35mph or less' is used where the cars have to slow down because of all the people walking.



Give-a-fuck-o-meter readings taken from http://greendrinksvictoria.ca/gd/lang_motors.pdf.

Seriously, we don't need the fucking things. Buy some shoes. Maybe get a coat & hat. Take a bus. If you're in a hurry, buy a bicycle - which is faster than a fucking LSEV anyway, and uses a hell of a lot less resources.