Downtown Barrie buzzing with banter around electric vehicles (3 photos)

Peter Bursztyn gets a charge talking about electricity.

First it was ensuring his house used it frugally, consuming about 3,000 kWh per year, about one-quarter of the power used by the average Ontario household.

Then there was his Smart car.

Now he scoots around in a 2020 Mini Cooper SE, which he happily displayed on Dunlop Street at Meridian Place on Saturday as part of a Living Green Barrie initiative.

But he might have been upstaged by Marty Lancaster’s all-electric Zero motorcycle, probably the only one around these parts.

“It’s a full motorcycle and it goes as fast as you want,” says Lancaster, who, like Bursztyn has long been a staple of the local green movement.

“It’s his second childhood,” quips Bursztyn.

Partnering with the Barrie-Orillia chapter of the EV Society and Firebird Community Cycle, Living Green Barrie set out to share the experiences of those who have moved away from gas propulsion.

By taking advantage of Open Air Dunlop, the hope was to appeal to those who may be curious about the options to gas-powered vehicles by making electric vehicles and their owners accessible.

Saturday’s exposition was the group’s first in-person event since COVID-19 took a grip on the world 16 months ago. There is hope that with the ability to more easily interact, along with a dash of nice weather, that the event will grow.

“Next year, I hope to make it a much larger event, more around car pooling, car shares, e-bikes, public transit, and bring in all those options to get people to really think about how they can reduce the amount they can spend in their single-occupancy vehicles,” says Living Green Barrie executive director Andee Pelan.

Bursztyn and Lancaster were sharing information, like how many kilometres they can go in their gas-free vehicles — 200 kilometres or so for the Mini, 150 in winters and 150 for Lancaster, none in the winter, but he has an electric Kia Soul for family and winter driving.

Lancaster recently took a silent ride over to Lion’s Head along the Bruce Peninsula, stopping in Thornbury for a pint of cider and a quick charge.

The bike is like any other, he says, and you really wouldn’t guess driving by it that it’s electric, except for the fact that it is silent and has no emissions.

Both agree that Tesla elevated the conversation about electrified vehicles, giving it all something of a cool factor. 

That’s where Bill Hooykaas came into the conversation. Across Meridian Place, over at the Heritage Park parking lot charge station, he was part of another display where more electric car owners were happy to share their experiences. He bought his Tesla S in 2013, which is now considered a collector’s model.

“It was one of the very first ones to come into the country,” he says. “I originally bought it for environmental reasons; now I have it for every reason.”

It’s considered safe, which translates into cheaper insurance, he says. And it’s frugal — essentially maintenance-free all these years, even with 100,000 kilometres racked up on the speedometer. And even though it’s seven years old, it has a range of 450 kilometres.

But then there are those unique Elon Musk touches — the classic design with the integrated door handles, automated over-the-air updates to the operating system. And, oh yeah, there’s more not to pay for.

“I’ve got free internet for life. I’ve got free charging for life,” says Hooykaas.

Next to him was Ron Fischer’s 2017 Chevy Bolt EV.

When he started using it for his commute from Barrie to Highway 401, his $450 monthly diesel bill was replaced by an $85 monthly electric bill. He saves another $100 every month in oil changes.

“It covers the cost of the payment, essentially, so it’s like I’m driving for free,” he says.

Add to that the fact that the price has come down from the $51,000 he paid to about $41,000 — minus $5,000 in federal rebates.

When Living Green Barrie regrouped a couple of years ago, organizers decided to concentrate local efforts to combat climate change and its impacts, says Pelan.

As a result, much of the group’s activities are centred around what individuals and households can do. And every month is themed around those actions — July is “tread lightly," lending itself to activities like focusing on using bikes as a mode of transportation and making electrified cars and their owners accessible to those wanting to explore them further.

“We’re long past where one day a year is going to suffice,” says Pelan, pointing to local findings that determined 55 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in Barrie come from private vehicles. “We need every day to be Earth Day.

“By far, the No. 1 thing we could make headway on is private vehicles; getting out of our single-occupancy, gas-powered vehicles.”

For more information, check out Living Green’s website by clicking here.