Sixth in a 10-part series of columns from the West Kootenay Climate Hub, published in the Nelson Star and Valley Voice (February 2025)
By Allan Early
Every time I drive our Kona Electric, I feel good. Even after four and a half years and 100,000 kilometres, my wife Marsha and I have never regretted buying an electric vehicle.
Our EV is a pleasure to drive. It's very responsive, going from zero to 90 km/h in three-to-four seconds. Its weight (4,700 lbs.) and low centre of gravity make it stick to the road like glue even during heavy downpours or slushy snow, and when we need to pass a logging truck on our curvy two-lane highways, it does it quickly and safely.
We love our EV because its motor uses about one third of the energy a gas engine uses to go the same distance, making it way cheaper to operate and maintain.
We've lived in the Slocan Valley since the late 1980s, and like many in the West Kootenay, we often travel to Kelowna — about 650 km return. When new, our gas-burning Subaru used an average of eight litres of gas every 100 km or 48 liters for a Kelowna trip, costing $88. Our EV uses an average of 15 kilowatt hours of electricity to drive 100 km. We do 85-90 per cent of our charging at home at 12–15 cents per kWh. Getting to Kelowna costs $7.88. To get home, we have to charge the car at a public charging station for 35 cents a kWh, or $19.60, a total trip cost of $27.48 — about a third the cost of a gas burner.
Not only is electric power cheaper, but when you take your foot off the accelerator the slowing e-motor generates electricity and stores it in the battery using regenerative braking. When we go up the Paulson Summit then down into Castlegar, we regain all the energy we used on the way up and more. This is also why on average EV’s brakes last twice as long as those of a gas vehicle; less braking is needed because the electric motor slows the vehicle down instead, reusing the captured energy.
After 92,000 km, I took our car to the dealer and asked them for a complete examination before our 100,000 km warranty expired. Nothing needed repair or replacement, including the original brakes. Any gas vehicle with that mileage would have replaced the brakes at least once and had at least six oil changes and/or other work on fuel-related parts and equipment.
Simon Fraser University’s Clean Energy Canada program reported last July that the average electric hatchback or SUV would save its owner $28,000 in the first 10 years. People who buy EV pickup trucks like Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning would save over $40,000 in 10 years. (SFU’s EV report The Scenic Route provides well-documented facts refuting several other myths about electric vehicles.)
The most common concern people have is the upfront price of an EV compared to an equivalent gas-powered vehicle. The manufacturer's suggested retail price for a basic 2020 Kona was $45,000. The federal and provincial cash rebates reduced that by $8,000. We financed the balance for the same monthly payment we would have paid for an equivalent gas-burning vehicle. EV prices are coming down and are expected to match gas vehicles in two-to-three years without government rebates.
One other question people have about EVs is how far they can go on a full charge. When new, our Kona had a range of 500 km on one charge. We have lost some range since then, but bear in mind that Hyundai's warranty covers the high voltage battery for at least 160,000 km or eight years. Besides the warranty, current batteries are projected to outlast the vehicle they power. You should also know that all B.C. provincial highways have public charging stations every 150 km.
Finally, we love our EV because it produces no polluting global warming gases like carbon dioxide. We drive 20,000 km a year. Our Subaru burned about 1,600 litres of gas annually, emitting four metric tons of pollutants every year. To us, our children, and our grandchildren, that difference means a lot.
Allan Early is a retired lawyer, former Nelson business person and a past president of the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce. Before practicing law, he owned and managed an energy conservation company that insulated some 500 homes and buildings in and around Nelson.