Cautious Canada bans battery cars from roads
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Most of Canada still bars zero-emissions cars and trucks from its roads despite growing demand and robust exports of electric vehicles made in that
country.
"It's a daily embarrassment," said Ian Clifford, president of the Zenn Motor Company that builds "zero emissions no
noise" vehicles in Canada for export primarily to the United States.
"Even my employees can't drive to work in a Zenn. It's absurd," he said of federal and provincial rules that forbid electric
cars from being driven on most Canadian roads.
Only British Columbia allows low-speed electric vehicles on its urban roads
'Even my employees can't drive to work in a Zenn' - battery-car boss
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Clifford's frustration is aggravated by the view that Canadians are increasingly concerned about the environment and eager to drive electric
vehicles.
"We assemble the cars in St Jerome (Quebec) and ship all of them south of the border," he said. There, 44 states allow them and 45 000
electric cars are in use.
Transport Canada, however, says the light metal-and-plastic shells are not safe on Canada's open roads and would not survive a collision.
The regulatory agency's spokeswoman Maryse Durette said only five models had been certified as roadworthy, including the Zenn and two others
that are no longer in production.
Most provinces have balked at giving electric cars the green light safety-wise.
Pilot project
Danny Epp of Dynasty Electric Car, a Canadian company recently sold to a Pakistani group that wants to move production to Karachi but continue
exporting its vehicles to the US, said: "We found Transport Canada to be very hostile towards low-speed electric vehicles."
Quebec this week announced a three-year pilot project to allow the Zenn and an electric truck on roads with posted speed limits of 50km/h or less.
Battery-car makers hope this will encourage other provinces to allow their products on their roads. –
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