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Letters Oct. 27: Thanks for helping with search, electric vehicles save money

Thank you for helping to find Giles On Wednesday afternoon, my brother-in-law Giles went for a long walk and did not return. Thankfully, he was found safe and sound 24 hours later, and returned to his family.
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Battery technology will become cheaper and better than it is today, essentially making a battery swap a far cheaper alternative to buying a new car, a letter-writer says.

Thank you for helping to find Giles

On Wednesday afternoon, my brother-in-law Giles went for a long walk and did not return. Thankfully, he was found safe and sound 24 hours later, and returned to his family. My family knows very well that not all lost family members are so lucky. To all those whose loved ones have not come back, we offer our most sincere condolences. We dodged a bullet and we know that.

We found Giles because of the compassion and dedication of so many people. We want to thank the VicPD and the Saanich Police Department for their commitment to the search and the safe return of Giles.

The Saanich Fire Department, who along with police spent the night searching Mount Doug. Saanich Search and Rescue, who, along with their volunteers, started at first light to look for Giles.

To the citizens of our fine community who called in tips. To the media, radio and television and the Times Colonist, who put his face and story in front of people. To social media for helping share the story so quickly. To the family and friends I woke up early to start searching for Giles. And to the office workers in Esquimalt, whose caring for others made them look twice, and who recognized him and called police.

The Mills family, and Giles, thank you each and everyone for helping bring him home. Our family learned many things in this time. We know now that we cannot just rely on others to care for our family members, we need to do more ourselves. We need to find ways to allow Giles his freedom and the quality of life he so much deserves. We learned what a caring and loving community we live in.

To everyone in Victoria, Saanich and Esquimalt, thank you from the depths of our collective hearts. Without all of you caring enough, today would be an entirely different day.

David Mills and family, and Giles
Victoria

Long-term savings, not costs, with EVs

Re: “Power cost not the only EV problem,” letter, Oct. 24.

A letter talked about rapid degradation of batteries, resulting in EVs depreciating faster than traditional gas cars. Although there is some truth to this, it is nowhere near as bad as suggested. Some manufacturers sacrificed battery-management technology in order to bring costs down.

However, some manufacturers are using software and thermal management to keep battery degradation to a minimum, with some cars now having a quarter million miles on them with 90 per cent of battery capacity intact.

And unlike your cellphone, EV batteries won’t just die; they just lose range — but not 40 per cent, as suggested.

The data show the batteries could last 805,000 kilometres, or 20 years, before they’ll need replacing, which is certainly of no concern for most people, who would never hang onto a car that long, or even drive that many kilometres to begin with.

Fifteen or 20 years from now, battery technology will be vastly cheaper and better than it is today, essentially making a battery swap a far cheaper alternative to buying a new car.

While many like to point out that EV owners aren’t contributing to gas taxes that pay for roads, they are also not spilling oil, antifreeze and transmission fluids that break down asphalt and pollute — as well as having no tailpipe toxins that cause millions of premature deaths worldwide from respiratory illnesses.

People claim EVs are too expensive compared with a gas equivalent, but if you add the costs of gas, tuneups, oil changes and inevitable mechanical repairs, suddenly, a car such as a Honda Civic becomes much more expensive long term to own and operate than a base Tesla Model 3.

David Byford
Sidney

Saving money by driving an electric vehicle

We bought a 2013 Nissan Leaf in 2015. With government incentives, it cost us just under $17,000. There are still used Leafs around the province for under $20,000.

In four years, our only maintenance has been new tires. That works out to $12.50 a month, compared with the average gas-powered vehicle at $40 to $60 per month.

We charge it twice a week — once at home and once at a no-fee community charging station. It costs us less than $4 a charge at home. Our power costs are about $20 a month, compared with $75 to $250 per month for gas, depending on the vehicle size.

In total, our EV costs us $35 a month for power and maintenance, versus $200 a month on average for gas-powered vehicles.

EV batteries are lasting longer than expected. Our battery has lost only 10 per cent of its charge in six years. Much is also made of battery replacement. My information is that it will cost close to $8,000.

Because there are so few parts in an electric vehicle that wear out, when you get a new battery, you essentially have a new car for the price of a new battery, so the economic point of view should be: When it comes time to replace your gas vehicle, can you replace it or make it like new again for $8,000?

When the costs of more forest fires, water shortages, storms, sea-level rise etc. are factored in, owning a zero-emissions vehicle is priceless.

Dave Secco
Victoria

Candidates should stick to issues

Let’s have a law that requires political candidates to discuss only their own platform, plans and philosophy. Any comment on another candidate’s personal life or platform would be strictly off-limits.

Liz Williams
Victoria

Send us your letters

• Email: letters@timescolonist.com

• Mail: Letters to the editor, Times Colonist, 2621 Douglas St., Victoria, B.C. V8T 4M2.