Ontario Killing the ZENN While Quebec and the USA Create Tax Incentives

It has been nearly two years since Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was going to see to it that "outdated legislation" wouldn't stop Ontario from "doing what's right for the environment". (Toronto Star article on Wheels.ca) And now, just in time for Earth Day on Wednesday April 22, the Province of Ontario looks set to reveal it's new regulations for a pilot project that will ... what? Regulate the ZENN and other Low-Speed Electric Vehicles out of the market place before they even get into the market place! The CBC News article says Ontario wants to require LSVs also called Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles to add more safety features beyond what Transport Canada requires for this class of vehicle.

At the same time the Federal Government in the United States is offering a $1250 rebate on these vehicles. Right now south of the border you can get a ZENN for under $10000 USD until the end of June. In Quebec the ZENN is eligible for a $4000 CDN refundable tax credit as part of a provincial program to encourage people to buy or lease highly fuel-efficient vehicles.

Ontario is struggling with the fact that these are lighter vehicles than regular cars. In a crash with a larger, heavier vehicle they don't hold up as well. But LSVs/NEVs have a regulated top speed of 40km/hr and are meant for roads with a maximum speed limit of 50km/hr in neighbourhood communities and urban environments and therefore they are quite rightly not required to have the same safety features as a regular passenger car.

The National Research Council (NRC) report, Safe Integration of
Electric Low Speed Vehicles on Ontario’s Roads in Mixed Traffic that the Ontario Ministry of Transportation will undoubtedly cite to justify their extra safety requirements does not in effect offer any serious evidence of grave safety risks. It is full of imaginings and things that "may" happen. There are suggestions of difficulties that "may" arise. It is a report of hypothetical situations many of which are not supported by very strong logic or justified by any examples. To suggest that the manufacturers add on all kinds of extra safety features and increase the cost of the vehicle based on the suppositions of this report is untenable.

The report also does not look at the health benefits of wide spread use of this type of zero-emission vehicle and compare them with the safety risks. Interestingly enough the Ontario Newsroom website had an announcement a couple of days ago that the McGuinty government has approved a pilot program to allow 100 commercial trucks to pull two full-sized trailers claiming "Longer Trucks Will Benefit Economy, Environment and Road Safety". The article mentions that "Studies show that LCVs were involved in 60 per cent fewer collisions than single trailer trucks." It doesn't mention what kind of damage the double trailer trucks cause when they do get in an accident.

For more on the struggles that LSVs/NEVs have had in Ontario and the safety debate click here.

This weekend I plan to write a postcard to the Minister of Transportation, the Honourable Jim Bradley, and Premier Dalton McGuinty. My basic message will be that Ontario needs to focus on urban planning and transportation safety regulations that create healthy cities. We must stop designing for stressed-out SUV drivers suffering from road rage and stop encouraging what has become a kind of arms race in the automobile industry. The ZENN and NEMO and other NEVs are a real gift that their Canadian designers have developed for city living. They're quiet and they create no air pollution from their tailpipes. They are all-weather vehicles and the best in their class. Ontario must allow them on the road as they are and give them the support they need to improve as they surely will. We need these vehicles now.

I hope enough others will do the same over the next week to convince the government that they must support this new industry in Ontario. If anyone else is interested the contact information is below. You can call them if you prefer, but if you send a letter/e-mail/fax and provide a full return address, you will likely get a reply.

Ministry of Transportation
Corporate Correspondence Unit
3rd Floor, Ferguson Block
77 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1Z8

Alternately you can send the Minister an electronic message directly through his website here.

Here is the contact information for the Premier.

For maximum impact send a copy to your Ontario MPP I suggest clicking in "Current MPPs" then scrolling the list of their names/ridings and clicking on the name of your representative. This is much faster than using the "MPP Addresses and contact information" link which is harder to wade through.


Source: Regulations will keep low-speed electric vehicles off Ontario roads CBC News April 15,2009

Canadian Progress For Market Ready Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles, Fall 2008

BRITISH COLUMBIA

On September 30 Vancouver passed a motion to legalize the use of Low-Speed Electric Vehicles (which they also call Zero Emissions Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles) on roads with a maximum speed limit of 50km/hr. The only other limitation is that LSVs have to drive in the right hand lane except when they need to make a left turn. A problem still to be resolved is that Vancouver's bridges and some of the main city roads have a speed limit of 60km/hr. City staff are now working out the details and are considering the possibility of lowering some speed limits.

Zero Emissions Neighourhood Electric Vehicles are sold in passenger and light duty truck versions and have a regulated top speed of 40km/hr.

In the U.S.A this translates to 25 miles/hr with the exception of some states that allow them a maximum speed of 35 miles/hr.

Here is the link to the article in the Vancouver Sun "Small Electric Cars Get Big City Boost" by Brian Morton.

Here is the link to the September 30 Vancouver City Council meeting minutes. Look to page 7 for the motion on Low-Speed Vehicles.


QUEBEC

On October 4 the ZENN Motor Company had a big party to officially launch its retail sales operation at its assembly plant in St. Jerome, Quebec. Future Quebec customers and fans and supporters from outside Quebec were able to take the cars for a drive and celebrate a new start for the electric car industry in their province.

For some good pics and details on this event check out the article The ZENN Now Available in Canada! on the Canadian Automotive Network's website.

Also available in Quebec is the NEMO.

Quebec Allows the ZENN and Nemo on Public Roads

Quebec has announced a pilot project for Low Speed Vehicles/Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles that would allow the public to drive them on any Quebec road with a maximum speed limit of 50km/hr starting July 17. Unfortunately not all NEVs will be eligible, but the two manufacturers that will participate have had a lot of great press and praise. The two vehicles that Quebecois will be able to choose from are the ZENN, a small hatchback style passenger vehicle, and the NEMO, a little truck. Both are manufactured in Quebec.

The pilot project is currently set to last 3 years, with the possibility that it could be extended another 2 years after that. But Julie Boulet, Quebec's Minister of Transportation, who announced the plan was clear that the goal of the project is to develop appropriate rules of the road and safety requirements through experience with these vehicles. They do not expect that after 3-5 years people who have purchased one of these NEVs will have to give up driving it, but that some of the rules concerning their use may be amended, dropped or new rules created based on the information acquired over this trial period.

Some of the rules for the pilot project include drivers having to keep the vehicle's head and tail lights on at all times while driving and having to drive only in the right hand lane except to make a left turn. The NEV has to have two signs affixed to it: an orange triangle indicating it is a low speed vehicle and a sign indicating its top speed is 40km/hr. Also, it has to be equipped with winter tires when being driven in the winter. For a complete list of rules and regulations (in French) click here.

This bulletin from Transport Quebec also indicates that Municipalities have the regulatory power to prohibit or restrict the use of Low Speed Vehicles in their jurisdictions. So I guess the next question is: Are municipalities going to allow the use of NEVs, actively promote their use or discourage their use?

Montreal, for example, has already shown itself to be friendly to NEVs by hosting a couple of pilot projects for low speed electric cars. In the sidebar on the right there is a personal account by Luc Couillard who test drove one for two weeks in Montreal. And here is the description of one project (in French) run by the Agence Metropolitaine de Transport that involved about 100 electric vehicles.

If you've spoken to anybody on your city or town council in Quebec or anywhere else in Canada, it would be great if you'd leave a comment about what you found out!