Laughing at the price of gas

Electric car conversions are more frequent in British Columbia , since the release of the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

Randy Holmquist runs Canadian Electric Vehicles in Errington, B.C. and says he used to sell only one or two conversions a year. Now he's selling up to two a month. Cost is over $18,000, including the kit, batteries and installation. The best vehicles are Honda Civic, Toyota Echo, Chevy S-10 and Dodge Neon, Holmquist said. He's also performed the swap on a Citroen. The $3,000 batteries need to be replaced once every three years. A high-powered charging station such as ones used by airlines can recharge a vehicle in 20 minutes. A typical household outlet may take up to eight hours.

One of his customers, university professor Kimberly Kerns, says she's surprised why even more people aren't interested in electric vehicles.

"It's been blissful not to know what the price of gas is," the driver of an S-10 conversion says.

An official from the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association estimates an entire community of electric vehicles could run on 8,000 gigawatts of power each year.

{Source: Monday Magazine]