The lack of support from Transport Canada by not encouraging the use of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV)

Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) were established as a separate class of vehicles by the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1998. They were originally designed for short shopping trips and social and recreational use. In July 2000, the NEV class was created in Canada. Canada's NEV class was created to allow companies to make, import and sell these small, lightweight limited purpose vehicles that could not meet the safety standards applied to larger and heavier mainstream vehicles that operate on public roads.

While provinces and territories regulate public road use and vehicle and driver licensing, Transport Canada does not encourage the use of NEVs on public roads, since they are not required to provide the same level of safety as mainstream vehicles.

Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) are not required to satisfy highway capable standards (mainstream vehicles) when that clearly is not the intention or legal requirement of the car.

Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) are relatively new to the Canadian market, and few have been sold in Canada to date.

Transport Canada adamantly continues to claim they have been unable to substantiate claims made by other parties regarding NEV safety history due to a lack of supporting documentation.

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. If Transport Canada has evidence to the contrary, we would be pleased to receive it.

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.

The Canadian Federal government continues to play the “safety” card. And has embedded fear in the tribe.

We have evolved to the point where we know a lot more than we ever did and we now know that a lot of what we believed for centuries is just plain wrong. However, we are still herd animals and it is our instinctive nature to continue to believe what the tribe believes rather than what's logical. Our minds have not yet evolved to the point where logic and reason dominates over tribal patterns.

The challenge today is that there is a huge volume of information out there, much of it biased or deliberately distorted (crass politics). We’re looking for true leaders who are taking risks in their communities, influencing lasting change, and have the ability to assess the credibility of sources.

It takes courage to believe in what's real.

TAKING STOCK:

Three provinces have unique regulations.

‎- The Quebec government pilot project is scheduled to end in July 2011. Their pilot project originally planned for a three-year period could be extended until 2013. Quebec's pilot project is to establish and consider allowing NEVs with mixed urban/city traffic.

- The Ontario government pilot program was established to consider allowing NEVs in public parks only. Their pilot project is not established for the NEVs to be allowed with mixed urban/city traffic. Their program is scheduled to end in September 2011.

- The Province of British Columbia is right to encourage their use with mixed urban/city traffic. British Columbia established no pilot program. BC is the only province that allow the use of NEV on streets.

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.