It’s been a long time coming, but electric cars are finally set for an historic breakthrough in Canada.
Vancouver, in the province of British Columbia, is to become the first major Canadian city to allow manufactured electric cars on to its streets. It is widely predicted that this will lead to a rush for electric cars in the region and spur manufacturers into action to develop new models.
British Columbia has been the heartbeat of green car production in Canada as it plays home to three manufacturers of so-called “neighbourhood zero-emission vehicles”. Now, Vancouver has followed Oak Bay (another British Columbian city) which has passed a bylaw to make these cars legal to drive on city roads.
The bylaw is expected to be approved later this week. It will state that cars must not be driven faster than 40km/h and can be used on any streets where the speed limit is 50km/h or lower. There are even discussions about dropping limits on 60km/h streets to make it possible for the cars to be driven everywhere.
As part of the on-going commitment to green cars, the city now requires all new single-family homes to have electric car plug-ins built-in. There may also be “opportunity charge points” built around the city, just as there are in London.
There have been some concerns however, with Vancouver police expressing hesitation about traffic safety because the electric cars are restricted to lower speeds. Even though some electric cars can travel faster than 40km/h they are restricted by regulations from Transport Canada due to concerns about their safety and the fact that they have not gone through the same crash-testing as standard vehicles.
