Vancouver city council paved the way last week to allow electric cars on city streets with speed limits of 50 km/h or less after voting to allow “neighbourhood zero-emission vehicles” (slow-moving electric cars) in most areas.
The Vancouver Sun took a test drive in one of the small cars—a GEM, or Global Electric Motor vehicle—that some predict will soon be a part of the Vancouver street scene.
“Everybody seems to love it,” noted Robert Rose, director of sales and marketing for ElectricCarBC, the distributor of the GEM, which is made in Michigan by Chrysler Corp.”
“It’s just get up and go,” Rose said. “It’s not intended to be on a 60-km/h road, but it certainly keeps up on 50-km/h roads. A lot of civic and parks organizations are looking at these. It reduces your carbon footprint.”
Vancouver’s decision marks the first time a major Canadian city has chosen to allow such vehicles to legally drive on city streets, said Coun. Peter Ladner.
Chrysler’s GEM vehicle is one of several electric cars that will be allowed on Vancouver streets with passage of the new bylaw. Others include Dynasty Electric Car Corp. (a B. C. company that now manufactures overseas) and B. C.‘s only home-based manufacturer of electric vehicles, Canadian Electric Vehicles (CEV), which produces its electric delivery vehicles on Vancouver Island.
“This certainly opens up the city to delivery vehicles,” CEV owner Randy Holmquist said.
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