Last year, about 10% of all new motor vehicles registered in Canada were some form of electric vehicle (battery, hybrid, or plug-in EV). But this number is rising. And even though we're still early on in the adoption curve, you can live a pretty great life with an electric vehicle today.
The caveats are perhaps as follows: (1) it really helps to have some kind of garage or driveway (so you can install a dedicated charging station) and (2) depending on your lifestyle, you may encounter the occasional feeling of "range anxiety."
I drive to the mountains to go snowboarding every winter and my sense is that we need to get far more serious about blanketing our most densely populated regions with charging stations.
But here's another problem that came up this week in conversation: How do you charge your EV if your only option for parking is on-street?
Do you have to run a cable from your home across the sidewalk? And then what happens if the spot in front, or nearby, isn't available? Is it really going to be feasible/desirable to have charging stations on the sidewalks of every residential street when EV penetration reaches the majority?
Last year, about 10% of all new motor vehicles registered in Canada were some form of electric vehicle (battery, hybrid, or plug-in EV). But this number is rising. And even though we're still early on in the adoption curve, you can live a pretty great life with an electric vehicle today.
The caveats are perhaps as follows: (1) it really helps to have some kind of garage or driveway (so you can install a dedicated charging station) and (2) depending on your lifestyle, you may encounter the occasional feeling of "range anxiety."
I drive to the mountains to go snowboarding every winter and my sense is that we need to get far more serious about blanketing our most densely populated regions with charging stations.
But here's another problem that came up this week in conversation: How do you charge your EV if your only option for parking is on-street?
Do you have to run a cable from your home across the sidewalk? And then what happens if the spot in front, or nearby, isn't available? Is it really going to be feasible/desirable to have charging stations on the sidewalks of every residential street when EV penetration reaches the majority?
This is clearly a problem that will need to be solved, and I know that many people and cities are working on it as we speak. I don't know how advanced this is, but Norway, for instance, is working on wireless charging roads that power up vehicles from below.
What other possible solutions have you seen out there?
Gas prices are up. And here is a chart to support this statement:
If I were trying to be as sensational as possible, I would likely leave things here. But since that is generally not what I try and do with this blog, here is another chart showing gas prices over a longer time horizon.
This is clearly a problem that will need to be solved, and I know that many people and cities are working on it as we speak. I don't know how advanced this is, but Norway, for instance, is working on wireless charging roads that power up vehicles from below.
What other possible solutions have you seen out there?
Gas prices are up. And here is a chart to support this statement:
If I were trying to be as sensational as possible, I would likely leave things here. But since that is generally not what I try and do with this blog, here is another chart showing gas prices over a longer time horizon.
This past weekend it was announced that ground has been broken (i.e. construction has started) on the new Ontario subway line that will connect Exhibition / Ontario Place to the Science Centre by way of the light purple line labeled "C" on the above map. (The other image is a rendering of the proposed Exhibition station.)
This transit line has gone through many permutations over the years and was previously called the Downtown Relief Line (but that was seen as too downtown-centric); the Yonge Relief Line (still too specific); the Relief Line (not Ontario-specific enough, I guess); and probably a bunch of other names corresponding to various lines on a map.
So it is exceedingly easy to be cynical when you hear of an announcement like this. Is it really happening? Are we actually building new and much-needed transit? And as you might imagine, if you read through the chatter on Twitter, you will find an overabundance of this sort of cynicism, along with what appears to be a general dissatisfaction with the current state of everything.
But in my simple view, I reckon that it is far better to be starting construction on an important new transit line than not starting construction on an important new transit line. So this is exciting! Let's go! If you'd like to learn more, I also tweeted out the initial renderings for the 14 stations that are planned for the Ontario Line.
Shown this way, gas prices don't seem as crazy. In fact, we're only now returning to where prices were back in 2008.
That said, these swings do impact things. And it is interesting to consider how these impacts might be felt differently across different cities.
So here is one more chart from City Observatory looking at the average number of miles driven per person prior to COVID:
One way to think about this chart is that it generally speaks to built form. Compact cities with higher densities and greater access to public transport, generally translates into people driving less.
The result is something that City Observatory refers to as a "green dividend." Less driving, means you save money on cars and gas. And so when gas prices go up, so does your green dividend.
Of course, if you were to get really serious about calculating your green dividend, you'd also want to look at your housing costs, as land prices tend to decline as you sprawl outward.
Ultimately, this is a trade off between housing costs and transportation costs (both direct and indirect, such as the cost of your time).
But I think that there should be another dimension to this green dividend and that is the environmental benefits of less vehicle miles travelled. That too, of course, can be measured.
This past weekend it was announced that ground has been broken (i.e. construction has started) on the new Ontario subway line that will connect Exhibition / Ontario Place to the Science Centre by way of the light purple line labeled "C" on the above map. (The other image is a rendering of the proposed Exhibition station.)
This transit line has gone through many permutations over the years and was previously called the Downtown Relief Line (but that was seen as too downtown-centric); the Yonge Relief Line (still too specific); the Relief Line (not Ontario-specific enough, I guess); and probably a bunch of other names corresponding to various lines on a map.
So it is exceedingly easy to be cynical when you hear of an announcement like this. Is it really happening? Are we actually building new and much-needed transit? And as you might imagine, if you read through the chatter on Twitter, you will find an overabundance of this sort of cynicism, along with what appears to be a general dissatisfaction with the current state of everything.
But in my simple view, I reckon that it is far better to be starting construction on an important new transit line than not starting construction on an important new transit line. So this is exciting! Let's go! If you'd like to learn more, I also tweeted out the initial renderings for the 14 stations that are planned for the Ontario Line.
Shown this way, gas prices don't seem as crazy. In fact, we're only now returning to where prices were back in 2008.
That said, these swings do impact things. And it is interesting to consider how these impacts might be felt differently across different cities.
So here is one more chart from City Observatory looking at the average number of miles driven per person prior to COVID:
One way to think about this chart is that it generally speaks to built form. Compact cities with higher densities and greater access to public transport, generally translates into people driving less.
The result is something that City Observatory refers to as a "green dividend." Less driving, means you save money on cars and gas. And so when gas prices go up, so does your green dividend.
Of course, if you were to get really serious about calculating your green dividend, you'd also want to look at your housing costs, as land prices tend to decline as you sprawl outward.
Ultimately, this is a trade off between housing costs and transportation costs (both direct and indirect, such as the cost of your time).
But I think that there should be another dimension to this green dividend and that is the environmental benefits of less vehicle miles travelled. That too, of course, can be measured.
