TEST DRIVE: A day with an electric car in Ottawa

The Ford Focus Electric, parked in front of OttawaStart World Headquarters in Stittsville.

I had the chance to drive a Ford Focus Electric car last week thanks to Ford Canada, and it opened my eyes to a small but growing electric car community in Ottawa.

Ford’s PR agency offered local writers and bloggers a day-long test drive of the vehicle. Go drive it around town, enjoy a night out, and tell your readers about it.  So I did.

The Focus Electric is a solid urban commuting car.

It’s not a hybrid. It’s 100% battery powered, no gas required.  The battery has a range of about 120km and takes nearly 20 hours to fully charge when plugged into a standard 120-volt wall outlet, or about a quarter of that if you have access to a 240-volt charging station.

That’s not a lot of kilometres, but this car isn’t meant for road trips. We live in Stittsville and a round trip to the Byward Market and back used up about half the “tank”. We filled ‘er up by plugging into the wall overnight. No special plug required.

When we went downtown, we were planning to plug in at the high-speed charging station near Lisgar Street at City Hall. It’s free to use as part of a partnership between the City and Ottawa Hydro. It’s a great parking spot right near Elgin… except there was already a car plugged in when we arrived! So we drove over to the Chateau Laurier instead. They don’t have a charging station, but they’ll let you plug into the regular wall sockets near the elevators on each floor of the parking garage.

There are charging stations starting to pop up all over the city, but they can be difficult to find.

There’s one in the Mountain Equipment Co-Op parking lot (of course).  There’s a station in the parking garage underneath the Shopify offices downtown. The Focus Electric’s GPS has a menu that shows nearby stations, it’s missing a lot of Ottawa locations, and couldn’t locate any downtown. (CAA has a map, and the one at PlugShare.com is good too, but those aren’t 100% accurate either.)

My biggest impression was that the car felt completely normal.

I was expecting that it wouldn’t have enough power, and that it would have some kind of futuristic confusing control interface. But it accelerated quickly down the Queensway, and inside it looks like a typical higher-end car, including satellite radio, GPS, rear camera, Bluetooth, etc. The only tip-off that it’s electric is a plug port on the front driver’s side that’s ringed by blue LED lights that glow when it’s plugged in. (It attracted quite a bit of interest from the neighbours.) The battery takes up space in the trunk, but this a car for commuting not for moving an apartment, so not a big deal.

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What about the price?

The Ford Focus Electric is listed at $34,170 before taxes. (There’s also a $8,500 rebate available from the Ontario government.)  That compares well against the basic gas Focus with automatic transmission at $18,822 and the high-end Titanium Focus hatchback automatic that goes for $25,822.

Is it cheaper to charge an electric car with electricity than fill up a tank with gas?

Yes, but variables in both gas prices and hydro rates makes it hard to say exactly how much.  You’ll save the most if you charge your car during off-peak hours, and even better value if you can plug in at one of the free stations around the city.  A study from Transport Canada says that electric cars cost 25% as much as gas cars to refuel. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation says the savings can be even more.

The Ford Focus Electric isn’t a family car, and it’s not for road trips, but it’s ideal if you just need a vehicle for short a short commute or quick errands. To me, the Focus Electric shows that reasonably-priced gas-free cars are a reality, and not some kind of far-flung future aspiration.

** Thursday, August 13 is EV Day in Ottawa.**

Hosted by Plug’n Drive and the Ottawa Centre EcoDistrict, EV Day is an opportunity to see and test drive the latest electric cars on the market, speak directly with electric car owners about their experience. It takes place on Sparks Street from 10:00am-4:00pm.

The Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa also hosts events throughout the year, and shares a lot of useful resources on their web site.

I asked the City of Ottawa about how they support electric vehicles. They have public sharing stations at City Hall, at John G. Mlacak Centre in Kanata, and at the Goulbourn Recreation Centre in Stittsville.  The charger at City Hall gets quite a bit of use from what I’ve seen, but they’re not as popular out in the suburbs.

There are nine charging stations at the Goulbourn Rec Centre, and they’re pay-per use.  Only two vehicles have used the chargers since they went into operation on January 1, 2014, according to Phil Landry with the city’s Public Works department.

Out of the city’s fleet of 2,300 vehicles, they own 59 electric or hybrid vehicles including:

• 1 Chevy Volt

• 1 hybrid Honda Accord

• 10 Honda Civic hybrids

• 37 hybrid SUVs

• 3 hybrid bucket trucks

• 3 hybrid pickup trucks

• 4 Zamboni electric ice resurfacers

  The City is in the process of acquiring three more hybrid bucket trucks, and is planning retrofit another six.

Electric cars are eligible for a special green Ontario license plate, that gives solo drivers access to HOV lanes on the Queensway and other 400-series highways. (At least until June 30, 2016.)[/caption]

The Ontario Ministry of Transportation says that 3,796 green license plates have been issued in our province as of June 1, 2015.   The plates are optional, and give drivers access to HOV lanes on the Queensway even if they don’t have any passengers in the car.  That may change after June 2016 – the ministry is still making up their minds if the program will continue.