A glimpse of the future
Project Eve’s electric car garners interest at NOTL town hall
Source: http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news/article/1219264–a-glimpse-of-the-future
A glimpse of the future. Coun. Jamie King looks under the hood of Project Eve’s A2B electric car. Councillors were treated to sneak peek of the vehicle, with demonstrations, prior to Monday night’s committee of the whole meeting.
Niagara-on-the-Lake councillors got a sneak peek into the future on Monday night.
In the parking lot outside of the Town’s municipal offices in Virgil, before the start of committee of the whole meetings for the evening, councillors and members of town staff had the chance to examine Project Eve A2B, one of Canada’s premier electric cars.
The small yellow vehicle is the product of a joint endeavour involving a number of Canadian companies, research facilities and universities using a collaborative approach to the ongoing development and enhancement of electric vehicles and their components. Various experts or masters of their fields have pooled knowledge, know-how and resources to produce key components for the electric vehicles.
Project Eve managing director John Scott said a consortium was founded to see a group of Canadians working together with the goal of advancing electric mobility technologies and ensuring their successful adoption in the country.
Monday night’s visit to Niagara-on-the-Lake was just one of a number of similiar visits to Niagara and other regions in Ontario. Now that a prototype vehicle has been developed, the consortium is looking for a municipality, region or company to come on board and order a fleet of light-duty electric trucks.
While adopting the new electric vehicles would be similar in cost to adopting regular trucks, there would be numerous ancillary benefits, Scott said.
Bryan Webb, chairman of the Niagara Industrial Association, has been helping the consortium become acquainted with key players in the Niagara region. The vehicles, he said, would be similiar in size to a Ford Ranger, or small F-150 truck, but the similiarities would end there.
“The total cost of ownership would be less for electric,” he said. “For instance, in an F-150 the distance you would get on $100 of gas would be equal to about $8 in electricity in one of the electric vehicles.”
Having one, or a number, of municipalities sign on for the fleet beta-testing period, he said, would be great news for Niagara. Project Eve would be building a plant in the area to manufacture the vehicles.
“It’s important for politicians to accept this idea,” he said. “It would create jobs here in an industry that’s involved in green technology.”
While Coun. Martin Mazza and CAO Mike Galloway went for rides in the vehicle, Coun. Dennis Dick got the behind the wheel himself. Other councillors, however, chose to simply observe from the sidelines.
Webb said Regional Chair Gary Burroughs and Niagara Falls mayor Jim Diodati have also seen the A2B — up close and personally. He’s hoping that getting a first-hand look at the vehicle will inspire them to consider signing on for the beta-fleets.
Scott said moving forward with the fleet is an important next step for Project Eve. It will not only help to inspire others to adopt electric vehicles, it will help the consortium develop its technology further. Having vehicles on the road will allow them to see how the technology and design holds up in Canadian winters, springs, falls and summers. Data will be collected and funneled back to the consortium, crunched and put back into developing future projects.
While Scott acknowledges they have been visiting other regions, he said the hope is to settle in Niagara.
As for Niagara-on-the-Lake, electric cars may be in their future. Coun. Gary Zalepa, under new business, requested Town staff to prepare a report on the project for councillors.
For more information about Project Eve, visit www.projecteve.ca
