The city has acquired an electric vehicle to be part of its fleet of cars.
One of the charging stations at Somba Ke’e Civic Park are being reserved for that vehicle, while the other one is still available for public use.
The charging station is being paid for by funding from the GNWT Department of Infrastructure, Greenhouse Gases Reduction Initiatives in the Transportation Sector.
City staff are using the EV during regular business hours, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday.
The vehicle is also available for bookings from Yellowknifers via the YK Car Share during evenings, weekends and holidays.
Electric vehicles are rare outside of Quebec, Ontario and B.C. There were more than 18,000 zero-emission vehicles registered in the third quarter of 2020, according to Statistics Canada. Nine in ten of those were registered in those three provinces.
Nationally 2.2 per cent of all registered vehicles are electric across the country.
Concerns about how electric vehicles fare in the cold do exist, with the Quebec branch of the Canadian Association of Automobiles warning motorists “your car’s range may initially show as 40 to 50 percent shorter, but that should increase again as the battery heater starts to work.”
Plugging your car in before using it to warm up the battery, like a normal car, can also help avoid problems, the CAA adds.
Charging at Yellowknife’s public charging spot is free of charge.
