Since most of today's vehicles burn fossil fuels, they are a significant source of greenhouse gases. There are many ways to reduce these emissions:
Electric motors are very energy efficient (well over 90%, compared to 25% or less for combustion engines). This makes them an ideal choice for creating motion. In recent years, batteries technology has advanced, allowing electric vehicles to offer greater range.
In addition to their efficiency, electric motors have the following advantages
Today, the limiting factor for electric vehicles is the battery, which is heavy and expensive. The battery also needs to be recharged, which requires charging infrastructure.
The production of a vehicle's battery consumes a large amount of energy and minerals, such as nickel, graphite, cobalt and lithium. These resources are found in Quebec, and with the electrification of transportation, the political pressure to exploit these resources will increase.
On a global level, replacing all of today's gasoline-powered vehicles with electric vehicles would require an enormous amount of minerals, and would lead to grave impacts caused by their exploitation. On the other hand, electric vehicles reduce GHG emissions. Continuing to use gasoline vehicles seriously accelerates the climate crisis.
The federal and provincial governments support the purchase of an EV with a total of $10437 (before taxes). The province also subsidizes home charging and used and imported electric vehicles:
Transporting dozens of people at a time in a single vehicle (a bus, for example) is already much more efficient than many individual cars. Electric buses are even more energy efficient. The Canadian-based manufacturers are
Charging batteries requires a charging infrastructure. Charging points can provide different levels of charging power:
This is the simplest (but slowest) case: You plug your car into a 120V wall outlet, like your phone.
Also called “destination charging,” this is the standard case for charging overnight at home, at a hotel, or (for a few hours) at a mall or at work.
When travelling long distances, you may need to recharge your battery along the way. In this case, DC fast chargers can provide a powerful and fast charge.
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