submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by to c/canada@lemmy.ca
 

I was interested in finding out why Ford signed such a good contract with Canadian autoworkers. What I found wasn't what I expected. But I do think it we can have something like a win-win if the country brings in Chinese EVs. Look at the numbers in my article and tell me what you think---.

https://open.substack.com/pub/billhulet/p/why-canada-needs-chinese-evs

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[–] 4 points 2 months ago (2 children)

The vast majority of car trips are about 10km. A bicycle would work for most of them. I personally think that electric golf carts in major cities should be legalized. They'll be the ideal grocery getter, and short commuter vehicle. Speed is limited to 40km/h on them.

The car industry spends billions of dollars a year convincing people that cars are freedom. That you can drive anywhere and do anything in a car. Sadly the reality is that most of the time people are stuck in traffic or looking for a parking space, in cities. Once you start thinking out the car mentality, you realize you can hop on a train for a vacation, do most of your shopping close by if you live in a city.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 months ago (1 child)

    Golf carts (or e-bikes) don't work so well in the prairies in the winter when it's -20 (or colder) outside and there's several cm of snow on the ground. They aren't meant for getting through snow, and they don't have a heated cabin. Don't get me wrong, I would love better options for small drives, but winter exists in other provinces. By the time you get an enclosed, heated, snow-capable vehicle, you are looking at basically a car anyway. We need to focus on EV charging station access so that people who live in an apartment like me, can use and charge EV's.

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  • You really need two different laws about driving, one set for urban, and one set for rural. In large downtowns, the speed limits are under 40km/h, and a start/stop traffic. In such places an electric golf cart would be fine. Getting city drivers out of gas guzzling SUVs should be a priority. You don't need a dually pickup in downtown Toronto.

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