If you were at the Mall today (Saturday, May 28) you might have wondered what was happening in the Parking Lot – it was the “Electric Vehicle and Sustainability Event”. Many electric vehicles were there ranging from KIAs to Teslas to the new Ford Mustang recently acquired by the Police. The event was jointly staged by the EV Society (Northumberland Chapter) and Sustainable Cobourg and was opened by Mayor John Henderson. You could take a test drive of one of four electric vehicles provided by “PlugnDrive” and many owners had their cars open for inspection or you could sit in them. There was not a big crowd but I spotted several people in earnest conversations with owners – a good way to learn the real facts.
The event was organized jointly by David Kuhnke, Chapter Lead of the local EV Society and Gigi Ludorf-Weaver of Sustainable Cobourg but other participants included Lakefront Utilities, Plug ‘n Drive, Northumberland County, some dealers (although not as many as were invited) and individual electric car owners. The event was scheduled to run from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm with opening speeches at 10:30 by Mayor John Henderson, David and Gigi (photo). The local MP and MPP were expected at noon. Mayor Henderson pointed to Council’s recent setup of an ad hoc committee to provide Council with input on what should be done in Cobourg for zero-emission vehicles. He urged interested people to apply to join that committee.
David said that this event was the EV-Society’s first open event (post-covid) and he hoped it would be annual.
Also on display was the recently acquired Police electric vehicle – an all-electric 2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E. Since there is currently no fully electric vehicle authorized for front-line policing in Ontario, the all electric Mustang will be used for community work so it is painted with an anti-bullying theme. Separately, Police already have a Chevy Volt in their administrative fleet and the Police Board have approved the hybrid Ford Interceptor for regular police usage. One is on order and should be received soon.
Resources
- EV Society (Northumberland Chapter)
- Sustainable Cobourg
- Plug ‘n Drive
- Town of Cobourg Advisory Committees – Look for “Zero Emission Ad Hoc Committee” which has the mandate to “assist the Town of Cobourg in researching how the Town could successfully transition Town operated vehicles to a zero-emission platform, in an effective, effectual, and positive manner.” Applications are now being accepted.
- Cobourg Calendar Featured Events – One of many places this event was publicised.
Print Article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tilakdoshi/2020/08/02/the-dirty-secrets-of-clean-electric-vehicles/?sh=3ac99dc9650b
Child labour for cobalt in Congo https://youtu.be/T___azqvPKI
… hmm e-vehicles – poor Ontarians who after more than a week still have no power, can’t go anywhere with an empty battery …..
and this is the future Marie: Six million Brits could face power cuts this winter with Government planning electricity rationing (gbnews.uk)
And you may notice that during a power outage the gas pumps do not work at the service stations, so with having an empty gas tank you can’t go anywhere either!
Five years ago I rode an ev scooter with a 2 yr warranty. It was four months after the warranty expired that my scooter caught fire on the boardwalk in Victoria Park. Below are just a few examples of such fires
The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) released video from a bus fire that happened at 76th and Layton in Greenfield on July 4. https://youtu.be/mx27592P2h8
Electric vehicles provide a path toward a greener future, but they can be especially dangerous when they catch fire. While car fires are nothing new and internal combustion engine car fires are also a problem, lithium-ion battery fires are extremely volatile and challenging to put out, and there are few resources out there to help firefighters. In addition, car makers like GM, Ford, Hyundai and Tesla have had to do costly recalls due to fire risk. https://youtu.be/XWq-Mq1Uqpw
An Electric Bus Caught Fire After Battery Explosion in Paris A video recording shows the start of the fire which completely consumed an electric RATP bus on Friday 29 April. The incident caused no injuries. The bus burst into flames within seconds. we can see a small explosion occur on the roof of the bus, where the batteries are located, followed by huge flames that spread to the entire body, at breakneck speed. It is a 100% electric vehicle, from the Bolloré brand Bluebus 5SE series, like the bus that burned down at the beginning of April . This afternoon, the RATP decided to temporarily withdraw from circulation the 149 Bolloré electric bluebuses that circulate on its network.。 https://youtu.be/5r-yN8SugWM
China electric vehicle explode while charginghttps://youtu.be/u2F9HKZ5VzA
TOP TESLA FIRES COMPILATION VIDEO! Watch as these Tesla cars catch on fire, explode and become an inferno! https://youtu.be/UsuYxFBHsiQ
Below are three quotes taken from the news this past month. This is the current situation. This situation is expected to continue for some time into the future. Load the demand for electricity with several hundred thousand new evs each year demanding power and the situation gets worse, largely because wind and solar can’t cut it when comes to steady reliable electricity generation. What happens when emergency vehicles go electric and fuel up on electricity that fails for days? What plans do we have for electricity generation other than wind and solar? Where is the nuclear lobby? or the LNG lobby to provide the necessary reliability?
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The Midcontinent Independent System Operator is projecting a 5 GW shortfall in firm generation to meet projected load this summer, and it is working with member companies “to prepare for the worst-case scenarios.”
California likely will have an energy shortfall equivalent to what it takes to power about 1.3 million homes when use is at its peak during the hot and dry summer months, state officials said Friday. Threats from drought, extreme heat and wildfires, plus supply chain and regulatory issues hampering the solar industry will create challenges for energy reliability this summer and in the coming years, the officials said. They represented the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission and the California Independent System Operator, which manages the state’s energy grid.
With temperatures this weekend and the coming week forecast to climb into the high 90s, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is expecting a higher demand for energy, which could result in Texans losing power.
Furthermore:
Electricity Shortage Warnings Grow Across U.S. – Truth in Energy & Climate (truthinenergyandclimate.com)
In order to provide one day of battery backup for the US electric grid at present usage amounts it would take the output of 1 Tesla Gigafactory for 500 years. An electric grid needs steady electricity going on 24/7. Wind and solar produce little or no energy 70% of the time. What this means is that to replace a 1000 MW coal plant, we have to build about 1200 3MgW wind towers or about 5000 MgW of solar power. Which requires 25,000 acres of land or nearly 40 square miles of about 12 million solar panels. This is just for one coal plant.
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In 2021, global electricity generation from coal increased by nine percent, the highest in history, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency. Most of that increase came from power plants in China and India, where the need for electricity jumped by nine and 12 percent, respectively. According to the IEA, Europe saw a 12 percent increase while the U.S. went up by 17 percent
Would have been there but did know about it until now…
A great little event where one could ask lots of questions and get to see various manufacturer’s vehicles! I even got to take one out for a drive! It was the KIA AV6. Vary spooky, though, as when you drove around it was complete silence within the vehicle! Also, with ‘regenerative braking’ or whatever it is called, it let you drive while only having to use one pedal….the throttle!
The sad thing about these vehicles is that you will have to wait at least one to two years, once you have placed your $500.00 deposit, for delivery of said vehicle! Even KIA has stopped taking orders for the AV6 and I think….the Nero!?
Can you imagine working in a dealership, as a sales person, where you may have no product to show customers, EV that is and then telling them it will take over two years to get the one you want!
I think McCombies will get my business, before I get my first EV! 🙂
Of course the salesperson can offer $5000 rebates courtesy of the taxpayers.
Upkeep on our road infrastructure is funded from fuel taxes. EVs don’t pay fuel taxes. And there are no govt plans to monitor EV use to charge for road repairs.
Good point, Wally, but as the gas prices ‘sky rocket’ the roads continue to deteriorate!……hard to figure out?
Perhaps funds are being reprioritized to fight racism, transphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, misogyny, fringe minorities, nazis, fascists, white bloodline extremists and truckers who all take up space in our gloriously expansive country.
Perhaps John would be so kind to post a link to the Town’s events calendar on his blog, like his Cobourg House Price link above? Then we would not need a Ouija board to try and navigate the Town’s website and find their active calendar postings.
A sidebox labelled Entertainment has been on the blog for some time. But maybe calling it Events is better. I have now moved the box nearer to the top and also added Cobourg Events to the menu. Thanks for the suggestion. Oh, if you meant there should be a link to the Town’s Calendar on the Town’s web site, that’s close to useless except for Library events.
Thanks John
Your Cobourg Events link is a wonderful resource for your bloggers.
OS
Was this event advertised? We arrived at this event only because we stopped into the Polling Station in the Mall. It was a very interesting event and talked to several people who were participating….our next vehicle purchase within 24 months will de a full EV (not hybrid) vehicle and it was a great way to see all the EV options at the same time in the same place. Too bad about the low turnout….it should have had a much better advertising campaign I am sure many more people would have attended.
I drove by on the bus and wondered out loud what it was all about. The other passenger on board said the same thing. We just shrugged.
I would have gone over for a look while I was there if I had known.
I agree. Did not know anything about it. My daughter and granddaughter would have been very interested .
In today’s world, you have to look for events online. With no daily local newspaper, most news and advertising of events is online. One good source is the Cobourg Calendar – see last link in “Resources” above. How many know about today’s (Sunday) Jubilee events?
hi John,
I had heard about the Jubilee event today but lost track of the schedule. Thank you for the reminder! The event was well done, and included the ceremonial attire of many attendees including the DM wearing a most appropriate fascinator hat!
There were flyers posted all around town. The first one I saw was at the farmers’ market on May 14th, but I saw them all over the place after that.
Here’s what they looked like:
https://imgur.com/a/fsu97JF
We live in the country, no flyers get posted out here but we do listen to the local radio (Northumberland 89.7) quite often for local news and events. As this station is a not for profit radio station, they will regularly offer public service announcements at no cost, organizers just contact them. Between reading John’s Cobourg blog and N897 we get a lot of good local information but we did not hear about this EV event on the local radio station.
Great stuff….Yesterday’s event at the mall reminded me that almost 37 years ago, the Mayors of Toronto and Montreal –with the late entrepreneur, Ted Rogers–made the first Canadian cell phone call in a small, lightly attended outdoor event….It’s taken almost 4 decades but, we all would be hard pressed to find a citizen without a mobile device. It’s early days for EV, but, one trip to the gas pump can make us all ready to learn more.
While EVs are well suited to in-town use, on long trips the drawbacks are the time it takes to recharge an EV and the scarcity of such stations.
Has anyone ever considered designing an EV with a battery that can be quickly and easily exchanged for another? The time it would take to switch batteries would probably be less that the time it takes at present for a gasoline fillup.
Some larger municipalities plan to use the swap technique as they switch to all-electric buses. It has been mentioned in the past for regular vehicles but I have not heard of it being implemented anywhere. The ON Route stations would be perfect for this if it ever comes to pass.
The car batteries are so expensive that I can’t imagine Tesla owners being satisfied to accept whatever battey is available when they pull into the swap area, so I don’t see it happening any time soon.
There are no established standards. GM, Ford, Chrysler, VW, etc have their own unique features.
Not really practical to switch batteries at present. They are built into the floor (yellow area in the center).
One automotive writer early on mused in print about the possible implications for the health of passengers sitting for extended periods with the very strong electromagnetic fields around the batteries so close underneath them.
I was a participant in this EV event. Neither MP or MPP attended despite being invited and scheduled to speak. However, two candidates did show up namely Lisa Francis, Green Party candidate, and Kim McArthur-Jackson, NDP candidate, and both addressed the crowd of participants and visitors. Yet, their attendance and participation were not mentioned in your article.