Letter to the Editor
Editor,
The other day my wife and children were returning from a trip so I thought I would try our electric car to see if it was viable to drive long distances. I drove from Woodford to Blue Mountain and gave it a small charge at their free stations at the village. I then went to Barrie and charged it at the free stations at a car dealership. I then drove to the free chargers at the airport.
On the way home I thought to try Highway 10 as it is much shorter distance-wise. I charged at the free super charger at the Caledon library and proceeded to make my way home. There are no quick charge stations between Caledon and Owen Sound on Highway 10, just the 120 volt that most towns are installing at public parking areas.
By the time I made it back to Woodford the car was depleted of battery power. So we plugged it in at the Hall there, didn’t think it would be a big deal until the police called saying that someone from the town had called them to report I was stealing electricity.
Thanks, Meaford, you’re the only town in the immediate vicinity without any charging stations at all and the only one planned is one at a private business that will cost more than putting gas in my car. After this experience I will tell other owners to avoid this town. There are too many large hills with no charging stations anywhere. Go to Owen Sound, Collingwood, etc. Don’t get stuck here. If there are few well paying private industry jobs you should look at ways to attract people there, my kids don’t go to school there, neither my wife or I work there, we just pay taxes to the town. We don’t even like driving through there for fear of doing damage to our car trying to dodge manhole covers. Too bad Meaford can’t support a much needed movement given our current climate. We will continue to shop and go out in the towns where we can charge our car.
Richard Foster, Owen Sound
Editor’s note: With more than 33 million registered vehicles in Canada, and with just roughly 30,000 of them being electric vehicles, one might forgive small rural towns for not having accommodated new technology instantly, but your point is a good one – change is coming.
