Category: Electric Vehicles



The MCCAC, helping municipalities save energy and money

366. Helping municipalities take action to save energy and money, and reduce emissions

Not many people have heard of the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre in Alberta, but since 2009 they have worked with more than 150 municipalities helping them save $166 million by doing energy efficiency projects, installing solar and EV chargers and implementing climate resilience action plans.

Going all-electric

349. Going all-electric – A family’s EV journey

Howaida and her family first dipped their toes in the world of electric vehicles by purchasing a small short-range EV and eventually took the plunge and went all-electric with both family vehicles. It all started when their non-electric Smart Car seemed too small for kids and hockey gear.

Oslo Climate Budget, a first

334. Oslo Climate Budget a First and Hey it’s Working

So many climate plans – so little action. Oslo, Norway is bucking that trend by creating the first Carbon Budget in a City and taking the boots to carbon emissions. We talk to Heidi Sorensen of the Oslo Climate Agency about what they are doing and why it’s working.

Indigo adding 500 EV chargers

326. Indigo Park Adding 500 New EV Chargers in Canada

Indigo Park Canada is adding 500 new EV chargers to its parking facilities in Canada. It’s all part of a transformation of the parking industry. Tomorrow’s parking lots will provide parking, EV charging and even play host to fleets of EVs in the off hours.

313. EV Calculator – Compare the Emissions and Fuel Costs of EVs versus Gas Vehicles

This Canadian EV calculator takes real-time grid data and lets you compare emissions from EVs vs gas vehicles – spoiler alert – EVs produce a lot fewer emissions even in provinces with dirty grids. The calculator also allows you to compare fuel costs of electric versus gas vehicles and these results may surprise you!

The Ultimate EV Fuelling Station

308. The Ultimate EV Electric Fuelling Station of the Future

Let’s face it an electric vehicle charger on the wall of a store just doesn’t cut it. That’s why Electric Autonomy Canada set out to create the ultimate Electric Fuelling Station of the Future in an international design competition. The winning designs will knock your socks off. 

What EV drivers really need

307. Charge it – What EV Drivers Really Need – Electric Autonomy Survey says

What are the most important barriers to electric vehicle adoption? What do EV drivers really need at an EV charging station? In search of the ultimate EV charging station, Electric Autonomy Canada surveyed EV drivers – We talk to Ilana Weitzman this week on Green Energy Futures.

Marc André of DCBEL

295. Ring that DCBEL – A revolutionary fast EV charger and solar inverter for the home

The DCBEL R16 is a revolutionary electric vehicle charger that connects your solar system to the grid, and with built-in artificial intelligence learns how to help you save money. Due to its unique DC charging system, it charges EVs at twice the speed of a level two charger and it completely replaces the inverter for your solar system. Oh, and it knows your price of electricity and optimizes vehicle charging, and thanks to bidirectional charging the R16 can use electricity from your car to run your home during a blackout.

RV solar booming

285. Solar RVs – Business is booming for off-grid solar on wheels

Business is booming for off-grid RV solar systems as snowbirds and campers take to the roads in droves. We meet with Remi Watts of CBI solar at a pop-up workshop at West Edmonton Mall to get the lowdown on some pretty cool RV solar systems.

solar powered car

282. Solar with Benefits – The Solar-EV Nexus

By using 3,500 kilowatt hours of excess solar electricity from his home solar system Ron Kube is able to power his electric car for 22,000 km and save $2,500/year and reduce the payback on his solar system to just five years.

EV Revolution

272. 2020 Year of the EV Revolution

$300 billion in investment, 700 new EV models and numerous stunning trends mark 2020 as the tipping point for the EV Revolution. The only question is how fast the revolution will take hold and transform the transportation industry around the world. We look back on 2020 with Norman Crowley of the Cool Planet Group, Eddie Robar, transit boss in Edmonton, and Leon Milner e-bike enthusiast.

Ford Mustang Electric

251. EV Tipping Point – The Future of Cars is Electric

We’ve hit the electric vehicle tipping point. Surprised? According to EV expert and columnist Matthew Klippenstein the auto industry is investing $300 billion in the development of more than 500 new electric car models by 2025.

Carol Bishop with her Nissan Leaf

226. Life with an EV: Carol Bishop – Fill it up for 3 bucks

Carol Bishop of Edmonton bought a Nissan Leaf EV “for environmental reasons,” but loves it because it’s “fun to drive” and super cheap to operate. Fill it up for three bucks this week as we take a ride with Carol in her Leaf in Part II of our #LifeWithAnEV series. 

Ed Ma with his Tesla Model X

225. Life with an EV: Ed Ma – Electrifying performance

Once Ed Ma started reading about Tesla ten years ago, he was hooked! In the first in our series Life with an EV we talk to Ed Ma and Rhonda Blair about their ten-year romance with electric vehicles. Ed likes that EVs are better for the environment, but he absolutely loves the electrifying performance of electric vehicles. 

Ed Ma with solar thermal on his home

223. Solar Thermal Home still cool after all these years

Ed Ma and Rhonda Blair built their super energy efficient green home 12 years ago using solar thermal modules–it’s still pretty cool after all these years. So much has changed since then and his green home project continues to this day. We talk to the couple about what they’ve done, what they’ve learned and what they would do differently today.

Matthew Klippenstein

221. Tesla 3 is Canada’s Best Selling EV

Big news in EV circles. Matthew Klippenstein tells us the Tesla Model 3 is the best selling electric vehicle in Canada and sales of electric vehicles have eclipsed internal combustion vehicles in Norway.

219. Osnabrück county produces 80% renewable energy

The county of Osnabrück in northern Germany produces 80 per cent its electricity from renewable sources, smashing national goals that call for 60 per cent by 2050. We look at one county’s response to the challenge of the national goals of Energiewende (energy transition) in Germany.

Philippe Dunsky, energy efficiency expert

215. Energy efficiency essential for the planet, great for the economy

In a scenario where Canada invests 2.5 times more in energy efficiency, Canada would create 118,000 jobs, save $75 billion on energy costs and reduce emissions up to 50 per cent. “And without energy efficiency, there’s no way that we can meet our Paris targets,” says Phillipe Dunksy an international energy efficiency consultant.

Tim Weis

212. The year wind power won the price war

In 2018 Alberta secured the cheapest wind power price in history, electric vehicles are on the rise and coal is on the decline. We talk to Dr. Tim Weis, industrial professor from the University of Alberta about some of the big green energy stories in Alberta from 2018.

Julia Pyper, Greentech Media

208. Ms. Pyper goes to Washington

Julia Pyper grew up on a horse farm in Milton, Ontario. But at a time when journalism seems like a tough career, she went to university in New York, landed an internship reporting on what she calls the “apocalypse beat” (climate change) for Climate Wire in Washington DC and today she’s senior editor with Greentech Media in Los Angeles. We talk about clean tech in the Trump era and much more.

North Glenora Net-Zero Church and Townhomes

193. Visit 21 Inspiring green buildings on Eco-Solar Home Tour

Ever wondered about going net-zero with your home? Curious about solar, heat pumps or geothermal systems? The 19th Annual Edmonton Eco-Solar Home Tour is your chance to see the latest solar and energy efficiency technologies and talk to the owners who installed them.

Electric Buses in China

190. Energy disrupted: Five trends driving global energy transition

Energy systems around the world are being disrupted and Clean Energy Canada has just  zeroed in on five trends that are driving a global energy transition to clean energy. We talk to CEC’s policy director Dan Woynillowicz to to figure out what it means.

The energy detective

181. The Energy Detective

When Ron Kube discovered his home was using nearly twice as much energy as the average home the energy detective was born. We can all learn from Ron’s journey that led to him reducing electricity use in his home by more than half–through measures so simple they are clichés.

Peter Simons, CEO of Simons

176. New Simons has largest solar system in Edmonton

The new Londonderry Simons in Edmonton, Alberta has a 636 kilowatt solar system, the largest in the city and three solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations including one level three charger capable of charging EVs in under 30 minutes.

Sustainival

172. Sustainival, the world’s first green carnival

Life is a carnival! Sustainival, the world’s first green carnival started in Edmonton, Alberta. It’s a biodiesel powered full scale carnival infused with a message of sustainability.

2017 Chevy Bolt EV

167. Chevy Bolt: the first low-priced, long-range electric vehicle

Two important things happened in the electric vehicle (EV) world in recent months: Late last year Quebec became the first Canadian province to adopt a requirement for the sales of zero-emission vehicles and then in February General Motors debuted its long awaited Chevy Bolt, a long range, low-priced EV.

The Zeus electric motorbike team at the University of Calgary.

74. Team Zeus

The University of Calgary is home to Team Zeus and they’re building an electric motorbike to race this summer.

Sonny Shem has really taken a shine to electric bikes and commutes regularly to work: " It makes you feel like you have bionic legs," says Shem. Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

59. Electric bikes – An easy way to green your commute

The electric bike might be the single best urban transportation option out there. It’s super green, gets you outside, has really low emissions and can get you up that big hill without breaking a sweat.

Energy Storage

57. Energy storage: Power-to-gas and better batteries

Renewable energy produces energy when the sun shines and the wind blows, but these entrepreneurs are developing better batteries and new and innovative ways of capturing and storing renewable energy.

Photo David Dodge www.greenenergyfutures.ca

52. Sun Country Highway

Kent Rathwell, the co-founder of Sun Country Highway, a company that installs electric charging stations, drove a Tesla Roadster across Canada in the dead of winter just to prove it could be done.

Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

44. Future of transportation Part Two

With the Edmonton Auto Show under our belt we went to check out the Future of Transpotation Symposium There we met the people who are driving and using the next generation of vehicles today.

Photo by David Dodge, Green Energy Futures

43. Future of transportation Part One

Shiny, spinning and promising the latest and greatest experiences you can get behind the wheel of a car – when you’re at a car show almost anything is possible. That’s why we headed to the Edmonton Auto Show to get a handle on what the world’s biggest manufacturers are doing in the EV, hybrid and fuel economy space. Follow us as we talk to industry executives and dive into the numbers behind what’s next for the auto industry.

John Wycoco hops in one of the 300 Smart Cars that Car2Go has available in the inner core of Calgary for rental by the minute. The company also operates in Vancouver and Toronto in Canada and 14 other cities worldwide. Photo David Dodge

42. Car2Go: Carsharing in Calgary

We head to Calgary to explore how the car sharing service Car2Go works. With 300 Smart cars spread throughout Calgary they make their money on by-the-minute, on demand car rentals within 93 square kilometers of Calgary’s inner core. Parking, gas, maintenance and insurance are all included in the rate and you can find the nearest car with your smartphone. Check it out, this week at Green Energy Futures.

Photo David Dodge, Green Energy Futures Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia

24. Our favourite stories of 2012

Join us as we dive into our archives and give you our favourite clips and behind the scenes moments from 2012. From nearly falling into the Bay of Fundy to angry anti-wind protesters we go coast to coast to coast to give you best.

Phil Dayson is an accidental electric vehicle pioneer who lives in Vancouver. He wound up owning an electric car company almost a decade ago and when the Chevy Volt came out he snapped one up. Photo Kevin Sauvé

14. The rise of the electric car

Phil Dayson says he’s not a car guy, but he should probably clarify. He’s not an internal combustion engine car guy. What gets Dayson motor running isn’t the familiar rumble of a V8 but the smooth, seamless acceleration of an electric vehicle. Join us as Phil tells us what it’s like to own and drive the most popular electric vehicle going, the Chevy Volt