As you can see by the headline, I am tired of going to the pumps to fill up my vehicle with gas.
I think anyone would be with the price of fuel these days, especially with all of the driving that life with two kids in hockey entails.
However, as I left the office last Friday, I made my usual walk through the public parking lot on Inkerman Street West. Usually, when walking through this parking lot, one would complain about the number of garbage bags – and other household garbage – left in front of the dumpster that some residents of North Perth love to take advantage of. However, today that is not my issue.
You see, each day I walk past the free electric vehicle charging station that sits right behind our office. The charger was installed in 2016, at a time when an electric vehicle was merely a pipe dream for most drivers. Most vehicles were hybrids, which let you drive 50-60km before switching over to gas.
Today it is commonplace to see electric vehicles on local roadways.
It was reported in the May 25, 2016 issue of the Banner that the charging station would “rarely be used by anyone with an electric vehicle in Listowel.” Tim MacDonald, then president and CEO of Ideal Supply, one of the project’s sponsors, suggested it would be used by people “travelling through Listowel who need a charge, and hopefully do some shopping in the town.”
When it was first installed, seeing a vehicle plugged in at the charging station was a rare sighting – as rare as a Toronto Maple Leafs win in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Today, there are multiple vehicles per day – usually the same ones each day – parked in that spot enjoying a free charge.
And after filling up my tank the other day, the idea that these vehicles are able to “fill up” for free irks me.
Being in a small community like Listowel and working in the downtown core, you get to know a lot of people – including some of the individuals who use the free charging station to charge their Tesla or Ford F-150 Lightning – and become familiar with the occupations these individuals have.
For starters, based on the starting price of some of these electric vehicles – the Ford F-150 Lightning XLT starts at $79,000, and a Tesla Model 3 starts at $59,900 (both of which are the ‘basic’ model) – these folks do pretty well for themselves. And there’s nothing wrong with that – kudos for finding a profession or business that pays very well.
Secondly, if someone can afford to buy one of these high-price electric vehicles, chances are they are in a financial position that they could afford to “fuel” it.
Instead, these folks park behind our office and “fuel up” for free.
Ironically, what started as a way to encourage people to buy an electric vehicle has, in my mind, turned into the well-off folks who don’t need a helping hand getting free fuel for their vehicle. Meanwhile, those of us regular folk who have a gas-powered vehicle are left to go pay $1.40+ per litre to fuel our car, van or truck.
Where’s my free gas?
I think it is time that this particular charging station switches to a user-pay model. If there is no appetite for that – council has not discussed the idea in public, to the best of my knowledge – then I propose a free gas station be constructed somewhere in the municipality.
I can already picture local politicians reading the above suggestion, shaking their heads and muttering something like, “He’s out to lunch.”
I may be, but it seems unfair that we are subsidizing the driving habits of the wealthy few instead of finding a way to bring in revenue off of a growing trend.
One line you always hear from lower-tier levels of government is how programs and services need to help as many residents as they can, as there are only so many dollars to go around.
Free gas for the masses would help a lot more residents than the electric vehicle charging station does. Now, before you start calling and emailing our office to say how crazy the editor is, let me say this: I know a free gas station will never happen, in any municipality.
It would cost far too much money.
So why is an electric vehicle charging station any different? And at what point does the free electric vehicle charging station fall into the category of becoming a hindrance to the North Perth taxpayer? In this case, we aren’t sure; when asked, the municipality said there is no individual metre for the unit, and the “cost is combined with hydro for the building which runs the pump station and fluctuates from year to year.”
I’m not against electric vehicles; I think any way we can reduce emissions is a step in the right direction. However, I am against the idea subsidizing the driving habits of those who don’t need the help.
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Mike Wilson is the editor of the Listowel Banner. Comments and feedback are welcome at mwilson@midwesternnewspapers.com.
