Topic: 100% Electric Car Legal for BC Now

[Trainman]

May be an option for those tough commutes into Vancouver   

And made in Canada too   

Lets see when it will be legal in the rest of Canada.



Transport Canada approves 100% electric car
Last Updated: Friday, November 2, 2007 | 10:29 PM ET
CBC News

Transport Canada confirmed Friday it has authorized a Toronto-based electric carmaker to produce a vehicle for the Canadian market.

The ZENN (zero emissions, no noise) electric car has received the National Safety Mark, a legal label that indicates the vehicle meets Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.



    The ZENN electric car seats two people and is roughly the size of a Mini-Cooper.
    (Courtesy ZENN Motor Company)

Toronto-based ZENN Motor Company makes the 100 per cent electric car, which is built in St. Jerome, Que. Roughly the same size as the Mini-Cooper, it would sell for approximately $14,000.

It's sold in most American states, Mexico and Europe.

Company founder Ian Clifford had accused the federal government of blocking him from selling the cars in Canada, saying officials from Transport Canada gave him different responses every time he approached them.

The car is considered a low-speed urban vehicle with a regulated maximum speed of 40 km/h. It's designed for areas where speed limits are 50 km/h or less, such as city core or neighbourhood-type driving, said Clifford.

Transport Canada says it will be up to the individual provinces and territories to legislate where the vehicle can be driven.

Currently, British Columbia is the only Canadian province to legislate this type of vehicle.

[mdxtasy]

Is that 40kph with 2 on board?

[The Mighty Duck]

Sounds like a governed top speed, not a mechanical one.  So I would hazard a guess of yes.  Shame - if they made it 60km/h it would be much more practical.

[AVToller]

Sounds like a governed top speed, not a mechanical one.  So I would hazard a guess of yes.  Shame - if they made it 60km/h it would be much more practical.

  on both points. A maximum of 40kph means that it will be an impediment to normal traffic flow even in most city cores. 60 would be realistic.

[1TSX]

Sounds like a governed top speed, not a mechanical one.  So I would hazard a guess of yes.  Shame - if they made it 60km/h it would be much more practical.

  on both points. A maximum of 40kph means that it will be an impediment to normal traffic flow even in most city cores. 60 would be realistic.

+ 2.

Heck, our residential streets are max 50 kph.

For 14K...I'd rather get something else.

[Schmengie]

At 40kph max, this thing's a rolling roadblock. It makes no sense at all, even from an emissions standpoint. The electricity to charge the batteries has to come from somewhere, ie, it has to generated, often using coal. How stupid is that??

[Trainman]

The electricity to charge the batteries has to come from somewhere, ie, it has to generated, often using coal. How stupid is that??

In BC, its mostly hydro-electric rather than coal.

Anyone know why the 40 kph was picked rather than say 60?  I agree, 40 is a bit low although last week I went from Surrey to Maple Ridge, a total of 43 kms, in just over an hour. 

[AVToller]

The electricity to charge the batteries has to come from somewhere, ie, it has to generated, often using coal. How stupid is that??

In BC, its mostly hydro-electric rather than coal.

Anyone know why the 40 kph was picked rather than say 60?  I agree, 40 is a bit low although last week I went from Surrey to Maple Ridge, a total of 43 kms, in just over an hour. 

Having lived (past tense) on the Lower Mainland from 1968-2002, I feel your pain, but I'm willing to bet that you spent much of the time doing 0-15kph and some time doing 60+ rather than a constant 40.     A MAX of 40 still doesn't work IMO. 

[Trainman]

The electricity to charge the batteries has to come from somewhere, ie, it has to generated, often using coal. How stupid is that??

In BC, its mostly hydro-electric rather than coal.

Anyone know why the 40 kph was picked rather than say 60?  I agree, 40 is a bit low although last week I went from Surrey to Maple Ridge, a total of 43 kms, in just over an hour. 

Having lived (past tense) on the Lower Mainland from 1968-2002, I feel your pain, but I'm willing to bet that you spent much of the time doing 0-15kph and some time doing 60+ rather than a constant 40.     A MAX of 40 still doesn't work IMO. 

"Feel the pain", especially for someone not used to it.  In that same time I would be on the other side of Kamloops from here.

But to be the devil here     if everyone had one of these 40 kph cars, then you would eliminate the big headache of vehicles going vastly different speeds.  They could all be sheep   

[AVToller]

Bah (or is that baa)! 

As to why 40, I wonder if there were some "safety" concessions which meant that it had to be governed to less than 50kph. I'm thinking in terms of the super low displacement bikes/scooters for which one doesn't require a bike license. 

[Schmengie]

The electricity to charge the batteries has to come from somewhere, ie, it has to generated, often using coal. How stupid is that??

In BC, its mostly hydro-electric rather than coal.

 

 Alberta has quite a few coal-fired generation plants and I believe BC has some as well. In some places, coal is the predominant means of generation. Using an electric car, or even an electric roller-skate like this thing, under these circumstances increases the demand pressure on the electric grid, resulting in more coal being burned, and we all know how good THAT is for the environment. Purely electric cars are stupid IMO

[Trainman]

The electricity to charge the batteries has to come from somewhere, ie, it has to generated, often using coal. How stupid is that??

In BC, its mostly hydro-electric rather than coal.

 

 Alberta has quite a few coal-fired generation plants and I believe BC has some as well. In some places, coal is the predominant means of generation. Using an electric car, or even an electric roller-skate like this thing, under these circumstances increases the demand pressure on the electric grid, resulting in more coal being burned, and we all know how good THAT is for the environment. Purely electric cars are stupid IMO

I did say, for BC, mostly, not all.  I can make no comment about other provinces as I do not know.

And so far, the car is only available in BC where our electricity is relatively cleaner, so a 100 electric car makes more sense here, with our relatively cleaner hydro power than say your example of Alberta.

Its all relative   

[Schmengie]

The electricity to charge the batteries has to come from somewhere, ie, it has to generated, often using coal. How stupid is that??

In BC, its mostly hydro-electric rather than coal.

 

 Alberta has quite a few coal-fired generation plants and I believe BC has some as well. In some places, coal is the predominant means of generation. Using an electric car, or even an electric roller-skate like this thing, under these circumstances increases the demand pressure on the electric grid, resulting in more coal being burned, and we all know how good THAT is for the environment. Purely electric cars are stupid IMO

I did say, for BC, mostly, not all.  I can make no comment about other provinces as I do not know.

And so far, the car is only available in BC where our electricity is relatively cleaner, so a 100 electric car makes more sense here, with our relatively cleaner hydro power than say your example of Alberta.

Its all relative   

Even so, at 40kph max, all this thing will do is slow down the rest of us, making us burn more fuel. I don't think that makes much sense.

On the other hand, an electric car that could keep up with traffic and be recharged without displacing emissions to a fossil-fuelled generation plant MIGHT be a viable idea.

At this point, we don't know enough about the materials/emissions/cost impact of building and maintaining large numbers of electric cars over the long-term. Even when we do, I don't think they'll ever be a reasonable alternative to a modern small ULEV.

[safristi]

Did someone say SHEEP....... Wot are those Kars SMOKIN'???40KPH......ya can hardly inhale at that SPEED..............bluddy West Coast racists RACERS.....

[G35X]

Keep this glorified (nut much) golf cart out of Vancouver!

Max speed of 40 kilometres/h is way too slow and dangerous. The company said the speed is limited to 25 mph in accordance with FMVSS 500 regulations.  Is this some kind of Fedral (U.S.) motor vehicle regulation?

Cruising range of up to  56 kilometres (35 miles) is too short.  We all know the uneasy feeling when the fuel meter hits zero.  The distance (56 kilometres) is shorter than the remaining range of ordinary cars when the low fuel warning light comes on.

Six 12-volt lead-acid heavy-duty batteries? Do you know how much six 40AH Die Hard batteries weigh?  Very heavy.  Besides, lead-acid batteries are toxic and corrosive. Not good for environment when discarded in the field or ocean.

What?  No air-conditioning?  Is the heater good for minus 25 degrees?

Similar cars were mass-produced more than half a century ago for short distance taxi use. They were made by a company called Tama, which had grown to become Prince Automobile Company (manufacturers of the Skyline GT-R), which in turn absorbed into Nissan later.  No progress since then?  Compared to this the new Mitsu electric iCar is more promising and realistic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRByar4xkgc

[G35X]

Sorry, I found the youtube page is no longer available. Instead, take a look at the following:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/09/07/tokyo-preview-mitsubishi-i-miev-sport/

[random006]

Yes, the speed does indeed seem capped on purpose.  From the Zenn web page:

Speed:   25 mph, limited in accordance with FMVSS 500 regulations


Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard #500 states:
Standard No. 500 - Low-Speed Vehicles
(Effective 6-17-98)
This standard specifies requirements for low-speed vehicles. A low-speed vehicle is a 4-wheeled motor vehicle, other than a truck, whose attainable speed is more than 32 km/h (20 mph) and not more than 40 kmlh (25 mph). The standard requires ten specific items of safety equipment.


Finally, here is an article about electric cars which talks about FMVSS 500:   http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=940

[Sir Osis of Liver]

A couple of minutes with a laptop and a link to the controller should fix the speed issue.

On Fredericton streets, you're doing well to hit 40km/hr. The city refuses to add more four lane streets until long after they are required. It's been perpetual congestion for over 20 years here. Most on council consider 4 lane streets to be tools of the devil.

[Leviathan]

There are days that I'd kill to reach 40Km/h to/from work  Clearly it isn't "the answer" but I think  it does have a place. Throw it out there and let the market speak.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Considering there are only 50,000 people here, it's more than a bit uncalled for.