OCTOBER 29, 1999
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THE UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIA OCTOBER 29, 1999 |
by Patty PittsUnlike their fellow commuters, Drs. Kim Kerns and Katy Mateer pay no attention to the gas prices along the Colwood strip when they ride-share from Sooke each day. That’s because the only energy source under the hood of Kerns’ 1990 Geo Metro is five batteries that she recharges while the car is parked in her UVic parking spot. “I’m very, very happy with the car. It’s been wonderful. The trip in from Sooke uses about 60 per cent of the battery and it only takes about three hours to charge it up again,” says Kerns, who was first inspired to drive an electric car after seeing so many of them on the roads during a recent trip to Paris. It only reinforced her desire to drive a vehicle that didn’t release pollutants into the atmosphere. She approached UVic about installing a charging station on campus, and campus parking services investigated the process. Since it’s less costly to build the station close to a power source (i.e. a building), a site was chosen in front of the Sedgewick building. An extended line was installed underground and connected to a small charging station in parking lot D where Kerns already used her reserved parking permit. The station can also provide power to two additional parking sites. |
Holmquist and Kerns "plug in" her car
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| The bright yellow extension cord that extends from the charging station to a plug-in where the gas cap usually sits is the primary clue that this car is different from the others in the lot. Kerns will reimburse the university for the electricity she draws from the charging station, but she estimates her annual hydro bill to charge her vehicle at work and at home will be less than $160.
When the car is running, it’s silent. It emits a low hum at low speeds to alert nearby pedestrians to the presence of the vehicle. The car only draws power when it is actually moving but, make no mistake, it is powerful. “I’ve passed cars going up the Malahat,” says Kerns of her new vehicle. Although she had to pay for the car’s conversion, she faces few maintenance costs other than the cost of power. Kerns even saved the provincial sales tax on her car. Randy Holmquist of Canadian Electrical Vehicles in Lantzville, who completed the conversion, successfully argued that the PST-free status that the provincial government extends to natural gas and propane conversions should also apply to electrical conversions. “Kim has the first PST-free car in B.C.,” says Holmquist. “Public demand is what forces technological change.” |
