That Other Crisis

Allan Gardens Black-Eyed Susan and Scarlet Beebalm

Twice over the past few weeks I've had a conversation with someone about a car. Not my car. I don't have a car. And if I had a car, I wouldn't know how to drive it.

No, the cars at issue were not mine. In fact, they were no one's. They were future cars. Cars being considered for purchase. 

One of the conversations was with a former colleague, a cap and trade specialist from the Ministry of the Environment. The other was with the lawyer who had just done our wills. Our old wills were from 23 years ago; the lawyer who had drafted them was himself dead. We needed an update.

My colleague's car is also in its third decade. I asked if he'd be buying an electric car, seeing as the world is on fire and all.

He said "no." He feigned concern about what happens to EV batteries. He finally admitted he wanted a car that made him feel powerful. And everyone knows EVs are gutless.

An electric vehicle was not my lawyer's first choice either. She was concerned because she drives in from Collingwood. In EV parlance, that's called range anxiety. Everyone knows that EVs can travel only a block or two on a full charge and then you're stuck there until the end of time. 

What struck me about both these conversations was how long in the tooth the misconceptions about EVs were. Range anxiety in particular goes back thirty, forty years.

Here are some recent facts:

• The average range of an electric vehicle is over 250 km. Teslas can do 350 km. Most commutes - which many people no longer do - are under 100 km.
• Electric vehicles have more torque than internal combustion engine vehicles.
• There are limited uses for EV batteries right now, but humans are smart. They'll figure it out.

Also striking, of course, was that smart humans were thinking at all about buying a gasoline-powered vehicle.

Both of these people were meticulous in their compliance with COVID rules: masks all around; meeting on patios and in the yard behind the lawyer's Cabbagetown office. 

It certainly appears as if they are capable of modifying their behaviour to deal with a crisis.

So, I suggested they check out Plug 'n Drive, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people get over their ancient fossil-fuel-industry-driven misconceptions about EVs.

If you're worried about the climate crisis, and you're in the market for a new set of wheels, you should check it out, too.

Thanks for reading!

Hug a (vaccinated) friend!

Karen