'Make that change': Regina EV event makes the case for electric vehicles

Drive Electric in the Queen City WATCH: The 7th National Drive Electric Week saw electric vehicles take over Scarth Street in Regina. Brianne Foley reports.

The Saskatchewan Electric Vehicle Association (SEVA) held the 7th annual National Drive Electric Week on Saturday in Regina.

Among the vendors was Eco-West, a non-profit that helps municipalities pay for installation and purchasing electric vehicles (EV’s) and power stations.

“We’re needing to make sure the prairies don’t miss out on this transition,” said Dany Robidoux, executive director for the company.

“The fact that there is a lot of EV interested folks here, that might be interested in installing charging stations and [we] let them know there are opportunities here to subsidize those purchases and installations.”

The switch to EVs is something many are looking into in regards to cutting emissions, since driving is necessary in the prairies.

“If you’re looking at an emissions profile and what that means, most of our greenhouse gas emissions are coming from the transportation sector,” Robidoux explained.

“Luckily most of the products I carry, you can plug them in at home, you don’t have to worry about it,” added Michael Lund, owner of Green Shift Automotive in Regina.

“We want people to transition over so the more infrastructure there is the better opportunity for people to make that change.”

The options in the EV industry remain varied. For those who have to travel greater distances, there is more available than just standard EV’s.

“There’s hybrid, there’s plug in there’s electric so people always get kind of freaked out with the whole idea of just being electric,” Lund said.

He added that the agriculture industry is also looking into making the shift to electric machinery, as a way to help cut emissions in day-to-day farm life.

Though Regina doesn’t have a huge electric infrastructure, those who do know and understand the industry are pushing for more of it in the city, and in Saskatchewan as a whole.

In Robidoux’s view, EV’s are the way of the future, and he does not want the prairies to be left behind in the transition.

“It does become a factor for tourism,” he said. “For the transportation of goods for people and really we don’t want to be a black hole here in the prairies.”