Photo by Laura Lennie
Sun Country Highway vice-president of sales and business development Christopher Misch rechargers a Tesla Roadster Sport car last Wednesday at Queenston Chevrolet, as part of the dealership’s launching of its free, publicly accessible electric vehicle charger.
Dealership launches free, vehicle charger
Owners of electric cars sold in North America can now recharge their vehicles in Stoney Creek.
Queenston Chevrolet launched its free, publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charger last Wednesday at its 282 Centennial Pkwy. N. location.
The green initiative is part of Sun Country Highway’s EV charging network that has been set up in the Golden Horseshoe from Niagara Falls to Oakville.
“It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity for us,” dealership sales manager Glenn Girvan said. “We were fortunate that Sun Country Highway came to us with the proposal and it was very short-term execution, but we were very excited about it and jumped on it right away. We managed to get it all done and installed and it worked out well.”
Sun Country Highway is a Canadian-owned company focused on creating Canada’s electric vehicle infrastructure. Its aim is to promote the adoption of clean energy transportation by greening the country’s highways without the use of tax payer money.
Sun Country Highway’s EV charging network is the “world’s longest/greenest electrified highway” with more than 100 charging stations strategically placed across Canada. The highway allows owners of electric vehicles to travel free of charge and emission-free across the country.
“Queenston Chevrolet have stepped up, they’re a partner of ours in creating the Sun Country Highway because you can’t sell cars without chargers and vice versa, so they’re supporting us in our initiative and it’s fantastic,” company vice-president of sales and business development Christopher Misch said. “This is the first for us in Stoney Creek. It’s pretty exciting.”
Girvan said Queenston Chevrolet has sold three Volt electric cars at its location.
The dealership’s mountain location has also sold a couple of models, he added.
“It (the move to electric vehicles) is a slow process,” Girvan said. “Once the infrastructure’s out there and you have public places like this where people can come up and charge their vehicles then I think it just kind of feeds itself and I see great things for it. It’s exciting.”
Misch said the installation of the EV charger will make life “more convenient” for owners of electric cars.
“For other people, they can now see that an EV is a viable option, they can buy it and they can charge it throughout their own community,” he said. “The great thing is, the business also benefits. Now you’ve got customers that will come to your establishment exclusively because there’s a charging station there, so it’s a great economical stimulus.”
Misch said when it comes to buying an electric car, it’s important to see past the sticker price.
“The sticker price is misleading; you need to look at the total cost of ownership,” he said.
He said savings come from fewer oil changes, lube filter and the fact that there’s no transmission.
“When you add that up, you could be as much as 90 per cent savings in cost of ownership,” he said. “And it’s great for the environment – zero emissions – which is really the message.”
