Canada is killing the electric car
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, ZENN, Green Daily
Canadian-based Dynasty electric cars is ending production in Canada and moving over seas. Very soon Canadian-based electric car company Zenn may choose to give up on Canada and move production as well. Why? The Canadian dollar reaching parity with the US dollar did not help much (imports from Canada are now much more expensive in the US) but the major reason is Canada's regulatory agency won't let Zenn
CBC News gave Harry Baergen, a senior regulatory enforcement engineer at Transport Canada, a call and asked if Zenn meet regulations. Harry said "They haven't met our requirements yet, no." When asked about the specific regulation Harry said "They've showed us that it meets requirements as an LSV (low-speed vehicle)." So... ah, what's the problem, Harry? Harry says "Our definition is presently being clarified because there is a little bit of a broadness in it."
Zenn's founder Ian Clifford says it's a "different story ... every time" from Transport Canada and they get "road blocks thrown up in front of us every attempt." Ian says it's getting to the point now where we're almost giving up on Canada." Danny Epp, general manager at Dynasty electric cars has already given up saying the company is "not getting any support from the federal level."
Good luck with production overseas Dynasty. You might want to look into Asia and specifically countries like Thailand which has an eco car program. Unlike Canada, Thailand is actually changing laws to support electric car companies. This is another reason electric cars will become common place in Asia before it's normal in the Western world. You can watch the video of the CBC report below the fold.
Update: Dynasty is sold in Canada.
[Source: CBC News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-28-2007 @ 2:14PM
susan.kraemer said...
Its due to "The Resource Curse".
Any country that begins to make money from oil, becomes prone to increasingly prone to becoming an "Oil"igarchy, that is oil-company control of legislation and government.
Canada is going increasingly to the Right after the tar sands oil discovery and now with the Arctic melting, they are duking it out with us and the (also newly Oil-rich) Russians for oil exploration rights underneath.
Just as our oil companies back after Carter rewrote NHTSA legislation restricting us to having no choice but to buying gas guzzlers, so now goes Canada.
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10-28-2007 @ 2:25PM
ug said...
If they could only make an EV1 class of vehicle, then this wouldn't be an issue.
The big issues is that small companies can not make cars that pass safety inspections, or batteries good enough for highway speeds and good range.
As it is now, they are stuck in a NEV deadzone which is a very small market. Even if they did sell cars, few would buy them.
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10-28-2007 @ 7:09PM
anony mouse said...
It would be nice if a Canadian car companies could be allowed to sell the few cars that the Canadian market wants. It used to be the case that provincial governments, at least, would give tax breaks and assorted other benefits to companies wishing to try their hand at auto production. Having spent many of my formative years in New Brunswick, I have remember my grandmother sitting in a Bricklin on display in Hartland.
It does seem an odd position for the Canadian government to be against job creation in the auto sector.
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10-28-2007 @ 7:10PM
Domenick said...
#3 was my post. >_
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10-30-2007 @ 4:50PM
MetroMPG.com said...
Correction: Transport Canada's regulatory squabbles are apparently solely with ZENN.
Dynasty can and has sold its vehicles legally in Canada (in B.C., where they're made, er... *were* made).
You can check Dynasty's site for confirmation - http://itiselectric.com
The CBC report failed to report the actual issue that T.C. has with the ZENN vehicles, but it's certainly not a blanket prohibition of NEVs in general.
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10-30-2007 @ 7:56PM
mike baz said...
Canada has universal health care. It's very weary, I would think, of allowing NEV's onto it's roads. Modern crash test requirements make it near impossible for small start ups to get their cars to market
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11-03-2007 @ 4:24AM
Lascelles Linton said...
MetroMPG.com, Corrected. Thanks.
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11-03-2007 @ 8:50AM
Lascelles Linton said...
Mike, That story is in the que but I will add you as tipster anyway. Thanks :D
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11-03-2007 @ 10:28PM
mike baz said...
Government did a reversal yesterday due to massive public pressure and call ins after the CBC interview. ZENN is now allowed to sell to Canadians.
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6-23-2008 @ 2:05PM
R. Hiebert said...
The electric car goes against the red-neck attitude Canadians have on the road. Many urbanites also commute more than half an hour to work and are used to putting pedal to the medal. If getting off petroleum is next to impossible, using synthetics is a cost effective option.
RH
http://www.lubedealer.com/hiebert
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