Electric vehicles spark conversation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/12/2023 (686 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Owners of electric vehicles are used to questions from people who are curious about whether they work in the winter, how far they can go before the battery needs a charge, and how much they cost to plug in.

There are about half a dozen EV owners in and around Brandon – including Quentin and Madelyn Robinson with their 2020 Chevrolet Bolt, and Chris and Michelle Budiwski with their 2022 Tesla Model S Long Range.

The Budiwskis with their Tesla are the first fully electric members of the Road Rebels car club.

“When we go to car shows, there are two main things that people want to know,” Michelle Budiwiski said. “One, does it work in winter? And two, how much range do you have on it? And then of course, they also ask how much it costs to charge it. But yes, it works in winter. In fact, this will be our second winter that we have driven a fully electric car.”

The range, Budiwski added, is about 600 kilometres on a full charge in the summer, and in the winter, “when it’s super cold,” they will get about 350 km, depending on the weather and road conditions.

The Budiwskis live about 40 kilometres from Brandon, so their daily commute and activities for their kids were costing them almost $800 a month in fuel in their Toyota Tundra, said Michelle Budiwski.

They plug their car in overnight, careful not to charge it above 80 per cent or go below 10 per cent.

Chris said he can go two or three days without plugging it in, and the last time he used a charging station, it cost him $11. “My electricity bill at home has gone up about $25 a month,” Chris said. “But I am saving the almost $800 I was spending on fuel.”

As Chris sat behind the yoke-style steering wheel in their Tesla, he illustrated how to map a long-distance journey much like they did last Christmas.

“We drove to Phoenix, Ariz., and back, and it cost us about $300 in electricity charges,” Chris said. “I just punch in the navigation, and it shows all the chargers along the way, how many bays there are, if they’re busy or under repair. It also tells you how many kilometres you have left to drive, and what your battery percentage is.”

The Tesla has always been Chris’s dream car, said Michelle – and is now her favourite as well.

“I absolutely love it,” she said. “There’s really no maintenance. No oil changes, there’s no transmission. Nothing to do other than tires. It’s literally like driving a computer.”

Both Michelle and Chris agreed that they like the power. “It’s fast,” they both said. “Zero to 60 km per hour, just like that.”

When Brandon couple Quentin Robinson and Madelyn Robinson purchased their 2020 Chevrolet Bolt electric car, it was the first time they had ever bought a new car in their 38 years of marriage.

Both are members of Sustainable Brandon and do what they can to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Quentin is on the board of Sustainable Brandon as well as the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association.

“We had a plug-in hybrid before for a little over a year, which we traded in to get the Bolt,” Robinson said.

“The performance is just way beyond any other car we’ve had. The acceleration is like a rocket ship. We use our other hybrid occasionally, and when we press the pedal we say, ‘What’s happening, why isn’t it shooting forward?’” Robinson said as he laughed.

“There’s a dedicated pan in the floor to hold all the batteries. There’s this lovely layer of weight, down low. So, it makes it super stable. You don’t get any pitching of the car going around corners or feeling like it’s sliding. It rides really great,” Robinson said.

The Robinsons’ Bolt has taken them on several long-distance trips over the last two years to Calgary, Revelstoke, B.C., southern Ontario, and a couple of times to Louisville, Ky.

“In the wintertime, the range you get is reduced, because it takes battery power to heat the interior. But range is limited in the winter for gas cars as well. It’s just that people don’t notice it too much,” Robinson said.

There are almost a dozen charging stations in Brandon, which charge per minute, Robinson said. The Canadian Tire station is about 30 cents a minute, while other stations charge 50 cents a minute.

“When you plug in at home, you are buying the kilowatt hours from Manitoba Hydro. And when you include the taxes, you’re paying about 10 cents a kilowatt hour. So that is very cheap.

“You can charge a battery pack over about 60 kilowatt hours. So, you could go absolutely empty to absolutely full for $6 at home, which could give you about 400 to 400 kilometres.

“Compare that to what it costs for gas, and that’s extremely cheap,” Robinson said.

When asked if there is a downside to owning an electric vehicle, Robinson said more charging stations are needed. Michelle Budiwski agreed.

“My biggest complaint is the lack of public chargers. I would love to take our car to northern Manitoba to visit family, but the chargers are just too far apart. Once you get into the states, though, no big deal at all.”

If you or someone you know would like to be featured in our Rides section, let us know, send an email to mmcdougall@brandonsun.com.

» X: @enviromichele