Imagine this: You're cruising down the highway in your electric car, sun shining on your face, wind in your hair. You're happy, because by driving that electric car, you're helping to save the environment.
There's just one problem - if you're driving that environmentally friendly car in the Humboldt area, there's nowhere to recharge. In fact, according to the Canadian Automobile Association, the closest charging station is over 100 kilometres away in Saskatoon.
It's been a problem without a solution until the recent announcement by Peavey Mart that all 29 of their locations, including the one in Humboldt, will soon offer charging stations. As an added bonus, drivers will be able to charge their electric vehicles for free. The expectation is that most drivers will charge their cars for about an hour.
There is still no set date for when the charging station will be installed here in Humboldt.
Charging stations have already been installed at Peavey Mart locations in Red Deer, Regina, Medicine Hat and Wetaskiwin.
"The number of electric cars and charging stations is clearly growing," said Doug Anderson, president of Peavey Industries, in a release. "By adding charging stations, we're increasing the capacity for people and helping to make electric cars more of an option."
Electric cars may be an option, but they are a rarely used one.
In 2012, electric cars accounted for 0.1 per cent of all new car sales in Canada, according to Green Car Reports. That works out to about 1,800 electric cars sold across the country, the most popular of which, the Chevrolet Volt, isn't even a true electric car.
The Volt has a back-up gasoline engine and, on its 2013 model, a range of about 60 kilometres on a fully charged battery. That's enough for daily errands, but not much more.
The top-end electric car is the Tesla Model S, which has a range of about 330 kilometres on its standard-issue battery and a range of close to 500 kilometres with an enhanced battery.
According to Chris Hill, President and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada, there are two obstacles to overcome before electric cars become a real option for Canadians: infrastructure and cost. Electric cars tend to cost more than their gasoline-powered counterparts and charging stations are certainly not as ubiquitous as your average Shell or Esso, even though Canada has the world's longest charging network.
Saskatchewan-based Sun Country Highways built much of that network last year along the Trans-Canada Highway, though most electric cars are used for short trips only.
"For someone who just drives around the community, an electric vehicle would be fine," Hill said. "If you're going to be making long trips, maybe not."
So, if you're planning a trip across Canada with an electric-only vehicle, think again. Unless, of course, you're one of the lucky few who owns a Tesla Model S.
"If you're driving a Tesla, it would be possible," Hill said. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be."
Overall, Canada still lags behind the United States when it comes to adopting electric cars. There are nearly 100,000 electric cars on the road in the U.S. According to Hill, that's because American consumers benefit from better infrastructure and access to the newest electric models a year before we do in Canada.
With only a few thousand electric cars on the road in all of Canada, it's likely that the Humboldt charging station will stand empty most of the time. For Hill and other electric advocates, though, it's all about the future.
"Over the next three to five years we'll see a lot of hybrids being sold," he said. "Once the selection goes up, so will the sales."
