Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) Gain Traction in Korea

Signs indicating whether a road is designated for neighborhood electric cars

Neighborhood Electric Vehicles manufactured by CT&T use a recharging station installed at a Homeplus store in Seoul. Yonhap News

In 2010, Korea passed favorable NEV regulations at the national level. The Korean Governments designated 30% of its roads for the NEV use, this figure is expected to increase rapidly in the coming months.

“By percentage, about 30 percent of local governments have designated roads for neighborhood electric cars and have reported the designations to the ministry,” an official at the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs’ Motor Vehicles Policy Division said.

CT&T, the country’s leading NEV maker, has exported its e-Zone Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) and signed on with Korean government agencies to supply the vehicle.

Source: Koreaherald.com

Canada is uniquely well positioned to promote Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) transportation

One of the biggest sources of emissions for Canada is the transportation sector, which produced 24 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Half of that amount was emitted by passenger cars and light trucks.

Canada is uniquely well positioned to promote Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) transportation. Compared to a global average of 20%, we in Canada generate over two thirds of our electricity from renewable sources such as hydro and wind. Some provinces generate nearly all their electricity from such renewable sources.

As the only G8 country which produces two-thirds of its electricity from renewable resources, Canada can take a lead role in accepting NEVs as an important solution to pressing environmental issues. Taking such a lead role can begin by finding a way to accept NEVs in urban environments.

Experts are seriously concerned about the rapidly increasing demand for private vehicles in burgeoning econimies such as China and India. These same experts agree that even if this increasing demand for vehicles was met with internal combustion engine microcars, the resulting emissions would be unmanageable. We have an opportunity to grow an industry of electrically powered micro cars that could show the world how to manage a growing part of the environmental threats from the transportation sector. Allowing NEVs on urban streets would be an important leadership step for Canada to take.

NEVs produce no pollutants at the point of use.

There are currently two Canadian companies manufacturing NEVs for sale in Canada and/or the USA. These are:

- CANADIAN ELECTRIC VEHICLES LTD from British Columbia that produces a NEV truck.

- NEMO which manufactures a NEV truck from a plant in Quebec.

The 40+ NEV's registered in British Columbia since 2000 have not been involved in any reported accident.

Global Electric Motorcars (GEM), a division of Chrysler, which has sold over 30,000 NEVs in the Uniited States, has not reported a single traffic-related death in their vehicles in over 10 years of service in mixed use and controlled environments.

Similar vehicles in Europe now exceed 300,000 and about 30,000 are added each year. Public accident reports in France show that NEVs are safer in terms of injuries than public transportation.

As of December 2010, 43 US States as well as the District of Columbia allow NEVs to be used on roads not exceeding 40 km/h. Thirteen states require NEV's to be electric.

Two states - Washington and Montana allow NEV's to travel at speeds up to 55 km/h.

NEV's are used widely throughout the USA in urban/city mixed traffic/environment.

Let's think about life in the slow lane

Let's think about life in the slow lane

Coquitlam NOW

Friday, October 03, 2008

Pardon the pun, but maybe it's time to change gears on a few regulations that limit our options when it comes time to buy a new vehicle.

Vancouver council voted this week to allow low-speed electric vehicles on city streets with speed limits of 50 km/h or less in most areas.

The decision comes on the heels of Oak Bay's nod to allow the so-called neighbourhood zero-emission vehicles cruise around the Victoria suburb.

When you step back and think about it, that's a good fit. Victoria's known for its retiree demographic, and having slower vehicles for seniors to putter into town with so they can run errands makes sense, not to mention the economic and environmental benefits.

Low-speed electric vehicles (LSVs) cost a mere two cents per kilometre to operate. Those tired of padding the pockets of big oil companies might find that number staggering -- if not motivating.

Fair enough, Transport Canada has some concerns with respect to the safety of LSVs, especially when you're talking about a crash between the pseudo golf carts and commercial trucks. We all know how that would play out.

However, these aren't meant to be commuter vehicles, and are likely no less safe than motorcycles.

Having LSVs on neighbourhood streets might actually be the beginning of the less car-dependant lifestyle city planners have been hoping to foster for years. By day, we could commute via public transit. On evenings and weekends, we could tootle around in a zero-emissions vehicle to buy groceries and pick up the dry-cleaning. Talk about lowering your carbon footprint.

After a slow start, green innovation is speeding up. Necessity is the mother of all invention, and people are going to be seriously contemplating green choices like LSVs as they decide to walk the talk of sustainability.

Transport Canada is not on board yet -- but federal and provincial agencies need to keep up with public sentiment, because it's time to think outside the box of gas, diesel and hybrid technologies alone.