St. John's council to vote on buying 2 electric cars
The City of St. John's is considering buying a pair of electric cars for its parking enforcement fleet, a move that at least one city councillor is praising.
Council is expected to vote Monday on a recommendation to spend more than $70,000 for two Nissan Leaf vehicles, a brand of electric cars.
"The main driver of this decision is actually cost," he said.
"It's lower maintenance and it's very cheap to keep them going. It's only about $3 [battery charge] per every 150 kilometres of use."
Lane said the city has been considering buying electric vehicles for some time — and they felt now was the right time to do it, given the provincial government just announced it would be installing electric car chargers on the Trans-Canada Highway across Newfoundland.
According to Lane, the city is also looking at installing their own chargers — two for municipal use and five that will be available to the public.
Lane said once city residents realizes the benefits of buying electric cars, he suspects more will be bought.
"There are less moving parts, and they're lower maintenance," he said.
Part of a larger trend
Lane is hopeful that Newfoundland and Labrador can be a leader in using electric vehicles, which he said would fit with the province's desire to be seen as being on the cutting edge of energy issues.
"That's pretty cool for us, if we're looking at becoming an energy warehouse," he said.
"Electric vehicles are the way we are headed and this is a forward move we're making, but we see it as part of a larger trend."
Lane said he expects council to vote in favour of Monday's recommendation.