BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your full name, daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication). The following is in response to 'LETTER: Don't drink electric vehicle 'Kool-Aid',' published March 13.
I have been reading the recent comments from Mark Coles and cannot disagree more and point out the complete misinformation he is spouting.
First off, I represent the Waterloo Region Electric Vehicle Association and we have over 500 members. Isn’t it interesting that not one of them would ever consider going back to a gas vehicle?
The letter to the editor states that lithium batteries are only five per cent recycled, yet I can point out to you at least three companies now in North America, including one on the stock exchange, that fully recycle the batteries. He says that his friend replaced a battery after three years, but I have yet to hear of one person actually doing this. There are eight-year warranties on the batteries as well from every manufacturer. Mark also goes on about lithium battery fires, yet fails to point out that there are gas car fires at a rate of 1,000 times more.
He states that there is no payback in electric vehicles, yet of the 500-plus members driving electric vehicles in my group, every one of them will show you that paying a hydro bill of around $40 to $50 a month compared to $80 to $200 a week in gas is a huge cost savings. Of course, this is also not including oil changes, brake jobs, and other maintenance involved with gas vehicles. Yes, the cost initially of an electric vehicle is more, but the payback is usually around the three- to four-year mark.
Mark also fails to state the huge environmental cost from mining, refining and transporting oil and gas and the complete strain on our health care in the billions of dollars. As a taxpayer, our dollars go to this whether we want to or not. If we actually put more effort into electric vehicles, how much better would our health care be? Gas transportation accounts for the No. 1 reason for children going to the hospital — asthma. Now include emphysema, cancer, central nervous system disease, and linked to dementia. This is not a political or environmental system that I want to be part of.
Lastly, Mark can’t do math. The average gas engine has an efficiency of — wait for it — 15 to 20 per cent. In other words, for every $10 you spend on that tank of gas, only around $1.50 moves your wheels. Completely pathetic. An electric vehicle is, at a minimum, 85 per cent efficient. As for costs, I personally charge my car and power my home with a solar array. Want to beat inflation? Own your power. I would be curious when Mark goes back to his gas car if he can put an oil refinery in his backyard.
Ian Graham
Waterloo Region Electric Vehicle Association
