Electric vehicle, bike and technology exhibition hosted in Regina

The Saskatchewan electric vehicle (EV) scene was on display this weekend at the Bunge International Trade Centre in Regina.

The event was hosted by the Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA), a non-profit organization aiming to educate Saskatchewan residents on EV’s.

According to President Jerilyn Nixon, SEVA has been around for about a decade, starting with a few members looking for charging infrastructure.

“There were maybe some country highways that had the level two chargers at Peavy Mart, but that was about all we had in Saskatchewan,” she said.

Nixon said that most drivers charge at home, but notes places like Canadian Tire and Victoria Square Mall are popular charging stations.

However, according to Nixon, Saskatchewan remains as the second lowest adoption rate in Canada at 2.6 per cent, below Yukon at 2 per cent.

“We are seeing EVs become more popular over the last couple of years, and especially over the last couple of months,” she said. “We usually have more dealerships on site, but they don’t have any EVs in their showroom or on the lot right now.

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“They’re going very fast, because people are wanting to maybe not pay that high amount at the pump, or it’s just something that they’ve been looking into.”

While the province’s biggest cities are investing more into electric vehicle infrastructure, Nixon has seen medium sized cities starting to do the same.

“I was just in Weyburn, and they had four EVs on the lot, and when I came back, there were only two. People are looking in and wanting to invest more in electric and save some money. Plug’n Drive is where I take a lot of my information from or Natural Resources Canada, and an average EV will save a person about $2,500 a year.”

Electric vehicles started to become more prominent in the early 2010’s. Nixon has had an electric vehicle for about 10 years now, since October 2017.

“I love waking up to an EV that is fully charged,” she said. “I can go anywhere I want to for the most part, the maintenance is very minimal. Window washer fluid and changing my tires around is the more common thing that I do a couple times a year, and then the cabin air filter is another thing.”

“Also, getting the brakes checked, but usually brakes last longer in electric because of the reach and braking that it comes with.”