REGINA -- Years ago, plugging in a car was an idea only depicted on TV or in movies, but today, electric vehicles are a part of reality here in Saskatchewan.
"We've noticed as people spend more time and educate themselves, they start to figure out that electric cars do make sense even here in Saskatchewan and they are growing and we are expecting more cars to show up in 2021 especially with the federal rebate," Matthew Pointer, the Founder of Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA), said.
Like many other industries, 2020 was hard for the electric market. The association is feeling re-energized.
"Federated Co-op is building 11 fast chargers along the TransCanada Highway, with that Canadian Tire is expanding and they will be doing 13 fast charges located around the province. We're also expecting some other third party companies to come online and develop their own charging infrastructures as well," Pointer said.
But the number of charging stations isn't the biggest hurdle the association is facing. Members believe misinformation is keeping people from looking at electric cars as a viable option.
"We're hoping to get more people driving electric in Saskatchewan. We want to put those myths and misconceptions about these cars behind us - that there's no charging and infrastructure here, that they work poorly in the wintertime and that they're actually worse for the environment and all of those things have all been disproven.”
Sask Power currently has several electric vehicles in its fleet and are testing their effectiveness on the prairie climate. Drivers interested in learning more about electric vehicles can find information on both the SEVA and SaskPower’s websites.
