BCAA

30 bca a .com fall 2015 Radius Images/all canada Photos roadside The future of personal transportation is still up in the air, but a number of factors are influencing tomorrow's driving today: stricter vehicle-emissions standards, rising fuel costs, increasing population density in urban areas, and changing societal values about car ownership. Vehicle manufacturers are sinking billions of dollars into research and development of new and existing technologies. The increasing availability of gas- electric hybrids and plug-in hybrids using a combination of electric and internal combustion engine power is also a response to fuel economy and emissions standards. The International Energy Agency estimates hybrid vehicle emissions are typically 30 to 35 per cent lower than in conventional vehicles. For many people, zero-emission battery electric vehicles (EVs) represent the future of personal transportation. Three Canadian provinces, including B.C., now offer financial incentives to consumers purchasing electric cars and energy- efficient automobiles. The Clean Energy Vehicles for B.C. program provides up to $5,000 towards the purchase price of qualifying battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles, and up to $6,000 for a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle. Still, electric vehicles have a long way to go before you'll see them on every roadway. When compared with conventional vehicles or hybrids, today's EVs typically have a shorter driving range and need frequent and long recharging times. But more powerful vehicle batteries are coming, recharging infrastructure is growing, and the technology will no doubt continue to advance. And with gas prices increasing and fluctuating at any given time, EVs are worth considering for drivers looking to save on fuel costs. Of course, buying a fuel-efficient automobile is one way to save fuel, but there's a less expensive method that doesn't require a major purchase: fuel-efficient driving. To demonstrate how effective fuel-efficient driving techniques can be, a group of professional automotive writers from the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) gathered in Vancouver this past spring for the annual EcoRun challenge. The journalists drove 20 new fuel-efficient vehicles (including gasoline, diesel, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, electric and hydrogen-fuelled) on a 200-km round trip from Vancouver to Nanaimo to Victoria with the object of using as little fuel as possible. The result? The average fuel consumption for the participating vehicles was between eight and For many people, zero-emission battery electric vehicles represent the future of personal transportation

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