Victoria’s Jim Hindson and his daughter, Laurie, joined thousands of international enthusiasts this week by happily laying down $1,000 each to reserve Tesla’s new Model 3 electric car.
Why?
“Because it’s the future,” Hindson said Friday.
Hindson already owns two fully electric cars and the Model 3 is not in production yet. Still, he’s willing to wait to support the electric vehicles and to get a car able to travel longer distances on one charge and offer faster charging.
The Model 3 is expected to be able to cover 346 kilometres per charge.
As secrectary-treasurer of the Victoria EV Club, Hindson knows four or five others who have pre-ordered one or two Model 3 Teslas as well. The new vehicles come with a starting price of $35,000 US.
It was a simple process. Hindson put in his order online, and there were no website problems.
“Elon looked after us,” he said.
Telsa CEO Elon Musk was in Los Angeles promoting his new car on Thursday, talking to buyers in line ups and streaming online. In Vancouver, dozens of buyers turned out to put their names down.
There’s no question that electric cars are here to stay and that sales will continue to climb, Hindson said. “What’s not to like?” he asked, pointing to their lack of emissions, quiet ride, ease of operating and lack of maintenance.
Hindson has been speaking to local developers, who are receptive to the idea of equipping garages in new multi-familly projects with charging stations. The challenge comes in retrofitting existing buildlings, he said.
He’s not alone in his enthusiasm for electric vehicles, which are leaping in popularity on Vancouver Island and throughout the province.
Last year, 720 electric vehicles were insured through the Insurance Corporation of B.C. on the Island. That’s more than double the 350 insured in 2014.
Province-wide, 3,200 electric vehicles were insured through ICBC in 2015, an increase of 88 per cent from 1,700 in 2014.
Last year, a total of 890 Teslas were insured through ICBC in the province, up from 420 in 2014. The insurance company does not have Tesla ownership numbers broken down into regions.
Automobile manufacturers have been embracing electric vehicles as individual consumers and government fleets purchase them.
Models insured through ICBC include the Nissan Leaf, the Kia Soul EV, the Ford Focus electric car, Chevrolet Volt and others.
Marko Juras bought a new blue Tesla S last month, saying he was attracted by its safety features, performance, long-lasting charge that will take him 400 kilometres, quiet ride and savings in fuel costs.
He figures there are between 30 and 50 Tesla owners in Greater Victoria.
“It’s a lot of fun. It has a lot of tech gadgets.”
He programmed its air suspension to automatically adjust to his steep driveway at home. Also, for those who park in tight spaces, the vehicle can be programmed to drive itself in and out of a garage.
As a real estate agent, he puts about 40,000 kilometres on a car annually and drives the Patricia Bay Highway daily. He paid $105,000 for the car and received a $5,000 rebate from the province.
He bought it online and picked it up on Vancouver.
Every couple of weeks, a Tesla “ranger” arrives on the Island to do any minor repairs needed for owners. At this time, there is not a Tesla dealership in Victoria. Juras takes the car to Vancouver for its annual service.
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