SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The territorial government has added a new vehicle to its fleet and no, it is not a gas-guzzling pickup truck.

This 2015 Chevrolet Volt fully electric car is now part of the fleet with the territorial government's Public Works Department. The department took over the lease from Arctic Energy Alliance on March 31. The alliance has used the vehicle for the past year and a half to get to and from its home energy audits in and around Yellowknife. - photo courtesy of the Department of Public Works and Services

On March 31, the GNWT took over the lease from Arctic Energy Alliance of a 2015 Chevrolet Volt, fully electric car. Louie Azzolini, executive director of the alliance, said after about a year and a half using the vehicle, they were unhappy to see it go. He added the car had served the organization well but it just didn't have the funding to keep it.

"In town, in the summer, we were pretty well exclusively running on batteries. That has a lot of appeal to an organization that's in the business of reducing greenhouse gas emissions," Azzolini said. "The technology of the vehicle is second to none."

Azzolini said there is still a charging station at Arctic Energy Alliance, meaning that if an electric car was driven into Yellowknife and needed charging, it could be done there. The car was put to good use in the year and a half or so the organization had it, said Azzolini.

"We do home energy audits and used it to do those in and around Yellowknife," Azzolini said. "We also took it on a promotional trip south of Great Slave Lake. We got into almost every community south of the lake that we could access. People loved it. The idea that you could run a car on electricity is pretty mind-blowing."

Azzolini added the vehicle operates best when the weather is warm.

"(In) wintertime we were running a lot of fuel because the battery had to charge more often. In the winter you get comparable gas mileage to a four cylinder car. The batteries don't last as long and the charge isn't as rich in the winter."

Azzolini said this car is one of two types of electric vehicles available to the public. It is referred to as a plug-in hybrid (PHEV), meaning, like the name suggests, it can be plugged in and therefore is more able to rely on the battery to power the vehicle for longer distances. The vehicle still has a combustion engine or generator to allow for long-range driving, said Azzolini.

This particular vehicle's internal combustion engine generates electricity for the electric motor and does not mechanically power the vehicle. It can drive on only electricity until the battery is depleted. After that, the engine will generate the electricity.

"That's the beauty of it. It's engine is not a power train, it's a charge train," Azzolini said. "The engine is the generator and when your battery starts running low - the car already knows this so it turns on the generator which charges your battery. It uses the least amount of fuel it can use."

The other type of electric vehicles are known as hybrid electric vehicles or HEVs. They are essentially gasoline powered vehicles that use the battery to help with fuel efficiency, according to Azzolini.

He said that by helping introduce the NWT driving public to this electric car, he is optimistic people have seen its benefits. He said he knows of only two other similar electric vehicles in the territory.

Mike Burns, assistant deputy minister of Public Works and Services, said the GNWT funded the car all along and his department has now taken over the lease from Arctic Energy Alliance.

"The vehicle is low mileage and it's in good shape. It'll essentially fulfill the role of a fleet vehicle now," Burns said. "It'll offset the purchase of another vehicle and will replace a vehicle which we will now retire." Burns added that GNWT employees are being trained to operate the vehicle and assessments will eventually be made on the costs involved in driving and maintaining the vehicle.