The biggest Electric Vehicle Show is this weekend – in Montreal
Are you ‘au courant’?
Thirteen. Thousand. Dollars.
Since last Wednesday, that’s how much you can get in government rebates for buying a new electric car in Quebec.
Want to shop for yours? Good timing: this weekend, Place Bonaventure welcomes the Montreal Electric Vehicle Show’s third edition. Can’t make it? No problem: there’s a repeat in Quebec City at the end of May.
Last year, the second edition of the Montreal Electric Vehicle Show drew almost 25,000 people in a weekend. That is no less one-tenth of all the visitors the Montreal International Auto Show generally attracts… in 10 days.
And last year, the MEVS – get used to it: that’s what they called the Montreal Electric Vehicle Show – was the scene of 2,000 road tests of electric and plug-in hybrid cars and other electric-powered vehicles of all types. The show would have proposed e-boat rides right in Métropole de Montréal’s biggest pool if the event would have been held at the Stade Olympique, instead of the downtown Place Bonaventure.
Yeah, that’s how crazy we are in Quebec. Remember, la Belle Province is the first and still the only one in Canada with an adopted ZEV standard.
Since last summer, when Ontario’s Doug Ford government cancelled its electric incentive program, Quebec is back to being the province with the most generous electric rebates, up to $8000 from the provincial level.
Add the $5,000 from the federal level since May 1st and that $13,000 slashed off a $41,700 Nissan Leaf or on a $44,800 Chevrolet Bolt gives a nice little jolt.
How many wheels do you want: 2, 6 or… none?
MEVS, in its third year, opening today (May 3) and going until the end of Sunday (May 5) at Place Bonaventure, is a one-stop shop to learn everything about current electric options, no matter if it powers two, four, six or… no wheels at all.
Indeed, beyond the cars we already know, there will be e-motorcycles, e-ATVs, e-karts, e-surf boards, e-buses, e-forklifts… even e-fat-bikes (that one could well become our favourite!).
MEVS organizers claim it is the largest EV show in Canada, with 110 exhibitors ranging from solar energy equipment manufacturers to portable battery charger makers, as well as e-insurance and e-financing companies.
Source: driving.ca
