Electric vehicles – Not just for Bieber but for you, too

By Rebecca Spring, Sustainable Transportation Officer at WWF-Canada
For his 18^th birthday, Justin Bieber received an all-electric Fisker Karma sports car. For a self-proclaimed car lover who is also environmentally-minded, I can’t think of a better gift.

(C) Ellen Degeneres Show

While high end electric sports cars are definitely cool, they aren’t a realistic option for most of us. The one that Bieber got definitely wouldn’t suit my family’s lifestyle (nor our budget) – I can just imagine my reaction to finding my puppy lightly gnawing on the headrest (eeee!)
But EVs (electric vehicles) aren’t just for celebrities anymore because almost all automakers will have a mid-range EV on the road in the next year.  While these pioneers may not suit everyone’s lifestyle, they are leading the way to a transportation transformation.
We at WWF are excited and supportive of the EV trend because of the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Climate change is having/will have an effect on almost every habitat and species on the planet and in Canada, road transportation contributes 19% of our total GHG emissions.
While improving public transit and designing accessible cities and towns are key to reducing our transportation GHGs, a report released today by WWF Canada shows that EVs also have an important role to play in meeting our long-term emission reduction goals.
The great part about this report is that it recognizes that we’re not all going to rush out today to buy a brand new EV. We know that certain limitations like purchase price or availability or range limitations or access to charging infrastructure are going to be a barrier to many Canadians at the beginning. But, since we can see the potential, we want to start talking about EVs now.
So let us know – what do you think about EVs and what more do you want to know about them? I’ll do my best to get you the answers you are looking for!