96% of electric vehicle owners in Alberta would buy another one: AMA survey
For many people looking to buy a new car, an electric option means extra considerations, like battery life or ability to charge and where.
Despite these potential roadblocks, a new survey by the Alberta Motor Association (AMA) finds the vast majority of people in the province who own an electric vehicle (EV) are happy with their purchase.
"It's tough because this is something new but once you get in you know exactly what it is so after that you'll think, 'Oh my god this is easy!" said Tesla owner Amit Bhgat.
"Buy an electric vehicle, 110 per cent."
He's not alone. The survey found 96 per cent of respondents would buy another electric and 95 per cent of those said they liked electric better than gas or hybrid vehicles.
"The experience that people have here in Alberta, in this climate, on these roads in this weather, has been overwhelmingly positive," said Dominic Schamuhn with AMA.
"And so after owning an EV and driving it in an Alberta winter or two or three Alberta winters, people's confidence has gone up."
But some people might not be ready to make the change.
CTV News Edmonton asked drivers on the streets of the Alberta capital Wednesday what had them pressing the brake on making the switch.
"I think I would probably lean more towards a hybrid just because then you have that option of leaning on that fuel if you need it," said Amie Filcow.
"The batteries are not ecologically sustainable and charging stations aren't plentiful enough to make it a viable alternative," said Joe Hunder.
"Some cars will charge at home, some cars won't charge at home. There's very little by way of standard. There's very little around charging. There's level-one charging, level two, level three, so there's still a ways to go," said Randy Ferguson.
But Schamuhn said some new homes are being built with chargers and governments are preparing the electrical grid for the future.
"We know that there's continued investments from the government, from industries that are making investments in growing the public-charging infrastructure," he said.
The survey included 1,010 EV owners from Alberta.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Government proposes new policy for federally regulated employees to disconnect from work
In their 2024 budget, the federal government wants to amend the Canada Labour Code, so employers in federally regulated sectors will eliminate work-related communication with employees outside of scheduled hours. If implemented, this would affect roughly 500,000 across the country.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.