Help tesla realize their vision - vote for federal ev incentives!

[Ktowntslafan]

But it is clear that we've reached a decision point. If governments massively revise what they expect from car makers on the emissions-testing front, it may be difficult for the industry to sustain itself. This could bring on a big shift to the car of future. It won't happen overnight, but if we are driving around in many more electric cars — or are being driven around by electric cars — in a decade or so, we'll look back in the Great VW Scandal of 2015 and say, "That was when it all changed."

The VW scandal proves that we need the car of the future a lot sooner than anyone thought - Business Insider

 

[Canuck]

With all due respect:

I believe that success is a possible outcome, but not without effort.
I believe everyone would like to see it happen, so why not email your MP?
It would take about the same time as telling everyone it will never work.

You're missing the point which was there's no need to state motives when you said to Jaff that he would prefer to wait until after the election. Now you are suggesting my time is better spent writing an email to my MP about it rather than posting here, which I find odd since the two are not mutually exclusive and you have no knowledge of my involvement with my MP on electric vehicle issues.

How many electric vehicles do you own?

 

[Ktowntslafan]

You're missing the point which was there's no need to state motives when you said to Jaff that he would prefer to wait until after the election. Now you are suggesting my time is better spent writing an email to my MP about it rather than posting here, which I find odd since the two are not mutually exclusive and you have no knowledge of my involvement with my MP on electric vehicle issues.

How many electric vehicles do you own?

I'm speechless...

 

[Jaff]

All I am saying Ktowntslafan is that I feel it is too late to do anything that will affect the election on Oct 19, 2015...I am certainly a proponent of sending letters / emails, etc. on October 20, going forward...I have no doubt that we can provide valuable context and input for the newly elected government going forward...

I'm speechless...

 

[Ktowntslafan]

All I am saying Ktowntslafan is that I feel it is too late to do anything that will affect the election on Oct 19, 2015...I am certainly a proponent of sending letters / emails, etc. on October 20, going forward...I have no doubt that we can provide valuable context and input for the newly elected government going forward...

Jaff, understood and appreciate your perspective.

What I am saying is that the VW scandal is getting an incredible amount of press at the moment. Several articles have suggested that this is proof that we've reached a tipping point towards EV's (including quotes from Elon) and need to subsidize so that economies of scale can be realized. If you agree, why not harness the momentum? We have more leverage now, then on October 20th...IMO, particularly if we can encourage debate. At the very least, we can pique the interest of folks who haven't a clue what an EV is.

I'm trying to inspire people to action, that is all. If you believe you have more influence after October 20th, as I said before, Cool...no judgement.

Jaff, thanks for reaching out to clarify, we are on different chapters of the same book.

Now, back to the topic at hand...Please email your MP candidate requesting EV incentives! (or if you don't think this is the right time, don't...)

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How many electric vehicles do you own?

This one I'm having trouble restraining from...ugh!

The whole point of this thread is to make EV's more accessible to the masses. If you view my profile, you will see many posts thanking early adopters. I invest in time (you have no idea) what you invest in cash. Same book, different chapters.

Thank you Canuck for being an early adopter, honestly.

I'm really hoping to get this thread back on track, the election is close at hand.

 

[Ktowntslafan]

This Globe and Mail article out today. Does anyone else feel like this is about to get much bigger?

The auto makers, which include Volkswagen, General Motors, Daimler, BMW, Toyota, Renault, PSA Peugeot Citroen, Ford and Hyundai, are essentially conceding what outside groups have said for some time — that the industry cannot meet pollution regulations when cars are taken out of testing laboratories.

Auto makers admit they can’t meet pollution regulations, seek leniency - The Globe and Mail

 

[Doug_G]

Seeking leniency isn't the answer.

Personally, I think the real answer is to (a) stop the huge market-distorting incentives for oil and gas exploration, and (b) hold automakers to account for their environmental failings. The oil companies are already massively profitable, so why in the world would the government be subsidizing them?

In the absence of other pollutants, improved fuel economy directly helps the carbon emission problem.

What the VW people were doing is avoiding expensive urea injection technology to meet the regulations, but their technical solution ruined their fuel economy. So fix it so it passes the tests, and fuel economy is good in the real world - problem solved!

 

[Ktowntslafan]

So fix it so it passes the tests, and fuel economy is good in the real world - problem solved!

I'm not sure it's that simple...

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How the VW scandal could get as big as the '08 financial crisis

http://fortune.com/2015/10/06/volkswagen-emissions-scandal-2008-financial-crisis/

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"The problem of manipulating emission tests goes to the heart of a capitalistic system. In a capitalistic system, the general view is that government should ensure a level playing field and participants should play according to the rules."

and later in the article...

"...governments must take care of welfare. One example is that governments should take the necessary steps to prevent externalities (negative outcomes from economic activity) in the interest of the country’s population."

 

[Doug_G]

Sarcasm missed...

 

[Ktowntslafan]

Sarcasm missed...

Unusual...you're too good.

 

[Ktowntslafan]

Problem:

"By subsidising diesel, Europe has slowed the transition to hybrids and electric cars. With diesel’s future in doubt, their moment may have come"

Opportunity:

"Technology isn’t quite there yet. But Volkswagen may have just given those eager to disrupt the automobile market the necessary incentive to step up their game."

Could the Volkswagen scandal power an electric car breakthrough?

	​
Could the Volkswagen scandal power an electric car break...By subsidising diesel, Europe has slowed the transition to hybrids and electric cars. With diesel’s future in doubt, their moment may have come
View on www.theguardian.com	Preview by Yahoo​

 

[Ktowntslafan]

If any TMC'ers are connected to the media, we could really use your help. I've reached out to every media outlet I can think of. I believe it is a great story and I've heard back from a few producers already, which is encouraging. If it gets picked up nationally (Mansbridge?) hopefully candidates will begin speaking to the issue. Thanks in advance and feel free to pm me!

 

[Ktowntslafan]

Getting closer...just posted, Canadian content:

"VW's house of lies about dirty emissions from "clean" diesel cars isn't a scandal as much as a syndrome, fallout from a belief that less government, more market will produce the best results. But "self-regulation" is producing worse results over time; and the "fix" that governments are coming up with is moving us in the wrong direction."

Change gear: The Volkswagen scandal and the failure of deregulation, self-regulation | rabble.ca

Armine Yalnizyan, Senior Economist

Armine Yalnizyan joined the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives as senior economist in 2008, after a long association dating back to 1993. Armine is a founding and regular contributor to the Globe and Mail ’s online business feature, Economy Lab. She has a twice-weekly business column on CBC Radio's number one morning show, Metro Morning , reaching a million listeners in the Greater Toronto Area. Armine also appears every Thursday on the Big Picture Panel, a popular weekly feature of Canada's premier business-news program, CBC-TV's Lang and O'Leary Exchange .
Armine obtained her M.A. in Industrial Relations from University of Toronto. She has a bilingual B.A. in economics from Glendon College, York University, which included a year of economics at Université de Bordeaux, France.
She serves on the boards of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research's Institute of Population and Public Health, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and the Canadian Association for Business Economics. Follow Armine on Twitter .
- See more at: Staff | Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

 

[Ktowntslafan]

"The Government should be showing leadership and replacing the Crown cars with high-end electric cars instead of buying 34 more diesel BMW limousines, the Green Party said."

This is the conversation we should be having right now in Canada. This an article from New Zealand:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1509/S00509/wasted-opportunity-to-change-lanes-to-electric-cars.htm

 

[Ktowntslafan]

Canadian politicians, please take note and follow this advice. Elon Musk is a genius. I've highlighted the most salient parts in red to save you time:


Published on 24 Sep 2015
Elon Musk speaks about sustainable energy at the “Economy for Tomorrow” Conference in Berlin in company of German Minister of Economy & Energy, Sigmar Gabriel.


This is after the VW dieselgate.

Overview:
00:00. Energy and the future
04:50. SpaceX and the future of space
08:40. German EV industry
17:05. First principles applied to democracy
19:32. CO2 tax & EV incentives (VERY INTERESTING)
30:52. Sustainable energy
34:08. Artificial Intelligence and regulations
39:40. Supercharger open to non-Tesla EVs
40:46. Wishes
47:52. Model 3 & gigafactory schedule
49:15. Airbus electric aircraft
50:30. Tesla car-sharing?

Elon Musk talks energy with German Minister of Economy & Energy (9.24.15)

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Elon Musk talks energy with German Minister of Economy &am...
View on www.youtube.com	Preview by Yahoo​

As a suggestion, this is an excellent follow up email to your MP candidate and party leader. Simply copy and paste.

 

[Ktowntslafan]

At least Quebec is investing in EV's...

Quebec unveils plan to expand electric-car network - Montreal - CBC News

First comment on the article:

• _Skyhawk_

Cool! We need this Canada-wide.





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Green Party MPs will:

• Work with the motor industry, provinces, territories, and other partners to develop a sustainable vehicles strategy, leading to an 85% reduction in emissions below today’s level by 2040;
  
• Adopt California standards requiring a 30% reduction in GHG emissions from new vehicles sold in Canada by 2020, 50% by 2025, and 90% by 2030. This will drive the manufacture of zero-emission vehicles and the infrastructure to support them. It will also create fuel efficiency standards in line with leading U.S. states for the 2011 model year;
  
• Kick-start a national fast-charging electric vehicle infrastructure by investing $12 million into travel corridor pilot projects around major urban centres;
  
• Provide tax incentives to electricity storage, to benefit renewable energy development in every province and territory and maximize the efficient use of existing infrastructure, specifically by amending Classes 43.1 and 43.2 of the Income Tax Act to specify that capital cost allowances apply to expenditures on tangible stand-alone electricity storage assets, regardless of the electricity source;
  
• Accelerate the market arrival of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and fully electric vehicles by signing the Plug-In Partners advanced purchasing agreement (creating a federal buying pool) with a commitment to buy large numbers of PHEVs for federal government use as soon as they are available. Carbon conditionality clauses in federal contracts will include a requirement for the purchase of plug-in vehicles as soon as they are more readily available;
  
• Work with all governments and businesses in Canada to join a Canadian green car buying pool and to join the Plug-In Partners buying pool;
  
• Offer scale-based rebates of up to $5,000 for the purchase of the most efficient vehicles, including electric vehicles, and scale-based fees on the purchase of inefficient vehicles;
  
• Require mandatory vehicle fuel efficiency labelling, adopting the European system;
  
• Allow tax write-off benefits only for energy efficient company cars;
  
• Provide incentives for Canadian manufacturers of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles;
  
• Establish a new authority to create a just transition fund for the automobile sector, funded by an additional fee on all sales of inefficient cars in Canada.
  
  2.1.6 Transport | Green Party of Canada

 

[Ktowntslafan]

MEDIA

CANADIAN ELECTRICITY ASSOCIATION PLEASED BY NDP’S COMMITMENT TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES, CLEAN ENERGY, AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Media >> Latest News

OTTAWA, Ontario - October 2, 2015. The Canadian Electricity Association (CEA) was encouraged to see today’s announcement by the New Democratic Party (NDP) of policies in support of electric vehicle integration, clean energy infrastructure, and energy efficiency.

“I welcome this NDP proposal which addresses some of Canada’s most significant energy and electricity challenges,” said the Hon. Sergio Marchi, President and CEO of CEA. “In particular, targets for electric vehicles in the federal fleet, which CEA has been calling for, is one more step in the right direction. Coupled with a Green Bonds initiative, and new programming in support of clean energy projects and energy efficiency programming, these proposals will enrich the election’s energy debate.”

Innovation and the renewal of Canada’s electricity infrastructure are key priorities for CEA. The NDP proposals address both issues and incent adoption of the technologies that will shape the future of Canada’s electricity system as highlighted in CEA’s recent report Electric Utility Innovation: Toward Vision 2050.

CEA is encouraged by the meaningful debate taking place on electricity innovation and needed investment in infrastructure. This discussion could not be more timely considering the Conference Board of Canada is estimating that $350 Billion will need to be invested in upgrading electricity infrastructure during the next 20 years.



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Liberal Party of Canada and Justin Trudeau on Climate Change

When it comes to actual carbon emission reduction targets the Liberal Party has been rather vague so far in this election, making a promise that they will “provide national leadership and join with the provinces and territories to take action on climate change, put a price on carbon, and reduce carbon pollution.”
In their election platform, Trudeau and the Liberals have committed to a $2 billion Low Carbon Economy Trust that will fund projects that help reduce carbon emissions.
On the international policy side, the Liberals say they will attend the Paris climate summit and within 90 days “establish a pan-Canadian framework for combating climate change.”
The Liberals also state in their election platform that they support the G20 commitment to phasing out subsidies for fossil fuels in the medium-term and that they will work with the U.S. and Mexico to develop a long-term North American clean energy and environmental agreement.

Canada Election 2015: Where do the Parties Stand on Climate Change?

	​
​ Canada Election 2015: Where do the Parties Stand on Clim...With only a couple of weeks left in the Canadian federal election, voters are starting to ask fundamental questions about where the major parties stand on important...
View on [url]www.desmog.ca[/URL]	Preview by Yahoo​

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The Conservative Party and Stephen Harper on Climate Change

As the incumbent party, it is fair to judge the Conservative party's performance on their record to date, even more so than their election promises. While Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have been mildly better on climate change in the last couple years (by, for example, agreeing with other G7 nations to phase out fossil fuels by 2100), the bar has been set rather low. This isn't help by the fact that members of the Conservative party still consider climate change a theory consisting of “alarmist claims.”
Under the Harper government, greenhouse gas emissions in Canada have ever so slightly dropped, but as the CBC points out in a recent analysis of claims on climate change made by Stephen Harper, those slight reductions had nothing to do with policy actions by the Conservatives and were instead a result of the major economic recession in 2008 and 2009.
As for Harper's commitment in this federal election on climate change, his party highlights the commitment they put forward for the Paris negotiations that would see Canada reduce its emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 measured on a baseline of 2005. However, the Conservatives have made this commitment on a sector-by-sector basis and one of the sectors left out of this commitment is the Alberta oilsands, the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in the country.

Emissions from the oilsands, Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions have increased 79 per cent since 2005. They currently account for nine per cent of Canada’s total emissions and that portion is expected to jump to 14 per cent by 2020.
In a recent analysis the Conservative Party's commitment was found to be the weakest of all the G7 countries.
The Conservatives have announced some funding for green projects, like a Public Transit Fund, but say funding for that program would not start until 2017.

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I'm personally quite disappointed that the Liberals haven't stepped up with a clear plan for EV's. It complicates my life and clutters my lawn.

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Short Version: What You Need to Know

Conservatives: The Conservatives are at least clear: they don’t even pretend to care about climate change or that they will really do anything about it.
Liberal: The Liberal platform is a paradox that promises to be better than the Conservatives at both fighting climate change and getting new tar sands pipelines built. While they have some promising environmental initiatives, voters are asked to wait until after the election to learn how much more a Liberal government would do to fight climate change and how their respect for science-based limits can be squared with a significant expansion in tar sands production.
NDP: The NDP platform recognizes the urgency of climate action and commits to using policy tools like nation-wide carbon pricing and green infrastructure investments that can put us on the road to a 100% renewable energy economy. Their proposal to assess projects within the context of our international GHG reduction targets should mean that no new tar sands pipelines would be approved under this system.
Green: The Green Party platform has the most comprehensive vision for how to make a transition to a 100% renewable energy future and the clearest opposition to the expansion of the tar sands. The biggest question is how they would pay for their proposed green energy infrastructure investments, because they have committed to refund all of the money they would raise via carbon pricing to taxpayers - calculated at more than $25 billion per year.

How the Federal Parties Rate on Climate | Greenpeace Canada

 

[Ktowntslafan]

"We’re going to hire 400,000 students a year for the next four years, and we’re going to put them to work doing everything we can to take care of the environment in our communities by helping with retrofit programs,” he added. “An army of people going through our communities, going to our municipal buildings and our homes and retrofitting them and putting on solar panels. We’re going to do everything we can to make electric vehicles affordable. We’re, basically, going to treat this like a war effort. We’re going to war with saving our environment.”

Armstrong goes on offensive against Casey - Election 2015 - Truro Daily News

FINALLY...SOME DEBATE!

 

[Ktowntslafan]

Canada's not even on the list. Quite sad really:

Norway, Netherlands UK Are Top 3 On Plug-In Electric Car Market Share Index

 

[Ktowntslafan]

Lobby much? The CMVA, making sure Quebecers have the broadest selection of fossil fuel burning vehicles to chose from. Makes you wonder who's campaigns they finance...

Canadian vehicle manufacturers react to today’s Quebec Plan of Action on Transportation Electrification announcement.

Toronto - 2015-10-09

/CNW Telbec/ Electric and Plug-in hybrid vehicles are available and growing in popularity in Quebec and throughout North America, and our members are actively bringing forward new and more advanced models with enhanced electric range and features. The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association (CVMA) supports collaborative efforts to expand electric vehicle adoption through consumer incentives and necessary improvements to recharging infrastructure.

However, policies that force consumer technology purchase decisions, like a ZEV mandate, impact the selection and availability of vehicles for sale in Quebec, without first considering and addressing Quebecers' automotive needs, driving range, pocketbook, or access to re-charging at work, to get to work or wherever else they need to travel. Collaborative approaches that support rather than limit Quebecers' choice would accelerate electric vehicle adoption and help our shared effort to reduce on-road greenhouse gas emissions.


About the CVMA
The Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association is the industry association that has represented Canada's leading manufacturers of light and heavy duty motor vehicles for more than 85 years. Its membership includes FCA Canada Inc.; Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited and General Motors of Canada Limited. Collectively, its members sell 48% of all vehicles in Canada and account for 65% of total vehicle production, operate 5 vehicle assembly plants as well as engine and components plants, and have over 1,300 dealerships. 125,000 jobs are directly tied to vehicle assembly in Canada. Direct and indirect jobs associated with vehicle manufacturing are estimated at over 500,000 across Canada. Please visit Request Rejected.

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Amazing commercial Nissan!

Nissan LEAF: Gas Powered Everything commercial - YouTube