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Fully-electric car hits city streets
New Arctic Energy Alliance vehicle testing out extreme cold

Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 17, 2014

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
On the surface, the new electric car to hit the streets looks nearly identical to its four-wheeled counterparts, but its inner workings tell a very different story.

NNSL photo/graphic

Jim Sparling, manager of climate change programs for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, left, Louie Azzolini, executive director Arctic Energy Alliance and Mark Bell, sales and leasing consultant at Yellowknife Motors, with the alliance's newly acquired fully-electric car. - Elaine Anselmi/ NNSL photo

The Arctic Energy Alliance's new fully-electric car is all about testing out new technology in this Northern climate, said executive director Louie Azzolini, on a test drive of the 2015 Chevrolet Volt.

"It's really neat, you can go 500 kilometres in this baby," said Azzolini. "The way it works is, as you're drawing down on your battery, your engine kicks in and it just recharges your battery."

As Mark Bell, Yellowknife Motors sales and leasing consultant, turns the key, a screen shows the lifespan of the battery that powers the car, which is recharged by slowing and stopping. On battery power alone it can run for 70 kilometres, but the onboard generator ­ the only part of the vehicle running on gas ­ gives it a distance of more than 500 kilometres.

"There will come a point in our society when we no longer use fossil fuels in our vehicles"
"There will come a point in our society when we no longer use fossil fuels in our vehicles, just like there came a point where almost nobody used the normal camera film that we used to," said Azzolini.

"The impact will be huge."

The Volt is being leased through Yellowknife Motors for an 18-month test period, at $1,800 per month ­ a higher cost than an average lease for the vehicle ­ due to the shortened contract.

A charging station installed at the Alliance's Yellowknife office will allow it to charge in more than four hours, as opposed to a regular wall outlet, which would require about 10 hours.

This is the first vehicle of its kind ordered up by the dealership, said Bell, but so far he's had no trouble starting it in -20 C to -25 C temperatures.

"If you're not running this car, you have it plugged in. So, the nice thing about these batteries, unlike some of our competitors that have electric cars, they have air-cool batteries and ours is a liquid-cool battery," said Bell. "So, if you have it plugged in and it senses that it needs to charged, then it can do a charge and keep the flow going through the battery to keep it warmer. When the batteries are charging they're going to be to a certain temperature and it's all computerized ­ it knows the temperature outside."

When the car is plugged in, Bell said it will only charge as long as is necessary and can be set to start charging at certain times or on certain days to conserve energy. With the engine acting as a generator, rather than the mechanism to drive the car, Bell said a block heater is not needed as the engine will warm as it drives.

Funding for the vehicle is through the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, which has partnered with the Alliance on many similar projects, said Jim Sparling, manager of climate change programs, who was also along for the ride.

"It is an emerging technology. We've had hybrid vehicles operate in the North with mixed success ... as battery technology improves, what is the potential of these?" said Sparling. "Just based on manufacturers claims we think that it could, even though electricity prices are high, it will still be cheaper to operate electric vehicles than to run a gas powered vehicle. Is that true? How do they function in our extreme Northern conditions?"

A major consideration, Sparling said, is the high cost of importing fuel to the territory.

"If we can generate our own electricity, through hydro-electric or solar voltaic, can we use that in our transportation fleet?" said Sparling.

As well as addressing the call for lowering greenhouse gas emissions, Sparling said if a case can be made for electric vehicles as an economical and sensible choice in the North, residents could take note.

"Do these new technologies work for us ­ the ones that allow us to produce our own energy instead of buying fossil fuels?" said Sparling. "We're looking at what new technology make sense in our circumstances."

As a publicly-funded vehicle, Azzolini hoped residents would take interest, stop in for a ride and consider this sort of new technology.

Azzolini said, "If we can move just a little bit along that spectrum by having an electric vehicle and exposing people to it, that's excellent."

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