Ontario is joining forces with a California company to help create an infrastructure for electric cars — a necessary step in getting electric cars running on Ontario’s roads and highways.
California-based Better Place will establish a Canadian head-office in Ontario, and the company will build an electric car demonstration and education center in Toronto to lay the groundwork to help get electric vehicles running on Ontario roads.
By May 2009, the Ontario government will release a study which will look at ways to speed up the introduction of electric vehicles including:
- Financial incentives designed to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles;
- Preferred access to transportation grid to encourage the adoption of electric vehicles;
- Forward looking procurement policies to speed government adoption of electric vehicles into fleet services where appropriate; and
- Coordinated public education and promotion of electric vehicles as a mode of personal transportation.
At the same time, Better Place will develop an electric car charging network rollout plan and timelines.
"I want to thank Better Place for their vision, and welcome them to Ontario. We have a workforce second to none and matched with this innovative business, we could provide a real opportunity for jobs and economic growth in the future," says Premier Dalton McGuinty.
For every 10,000 electric vehicles on the road, Better Place estimates that Ontario will offset more than 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
Under the Better Place model, electric car drivers enrol in a subscription plan to use the company’s open network of battery exchange stations and charge spots in homes, businesses and parking lots.
Canada-based Bullfrog Power will provide the Better Place network with electricity from local renewable sources to avoid shifting emissions from tailpipe to smokestack and support Ontario’s commitment to end the use of coal-fired generation by 2014.
