Protest prompted by MP’s opinion on EVs

The temperature hovered around -18 C on Sunday, but that was alright with organizers of an electric vehicle (EV) protest outside Provencher Ted Falk’s office.

Former political rivals in the last election campaign, Liberal candidate Trevor Kirczenow and Green candidate Blair Mahaffy, were waiting for a cold day to respond to an August mailer sent out by Falk’s office.

In it, there was one sentence that they said got the EV community concerned.

“Colder regions like Manitoba and long distances make an EV option impractical,” the mailer stated.

The event drew about a dozen people in eight EVS, who chatted, drank hot chocolate thanks to a kettle on a hot plate operated by one of the EVS and took the time to pose for a few photos.

Provencher MP Ted Falk was on enroute to Ottawa when the protest happened, and said he found out about it from a third party.

He stressed that he has nothing against electric vehicles themselves.

“I think there’s a place for them,” he said.

What he is against was the Liberal mandate, only recently removed, that called for all new car sales to be electric by 2035.

“Nobody should be required to drive an electric vehicle if they choose not to and the data shows very clearly in our climate especially, in winter, battery life is severely diminished.”

Falk said there are situations where having an EV would work well.

That use of the word “impractical” was something that got EV proponents concerned.

Kirczenow and Mahaffy met previously at election events and noticed early that they both drove EVs. After the summer flyer came out, Kirczenow said they agreed something should be done.

“We should try to dispel some of those myths and show people that our electric vehicles work really well in the wintertime,” he said.

While the event itself, held at noon on Sunday, didn’t attract a crowd of people, there were many questions and comments on social media leading up to the event.

“I think there’s a lot of interest about it and there are a lot of myths that people keep repeating,” he said. “Some things I didn’t even know until I tried it.”

For Kirczenow that myth was that an EV was dangerous to be stuck in during a winter storm, because of the energy required to heat it.

Waiting for his children to finish hockey one day, he put the theory to the test, sitting in cold weather with his heat on. One hour equaled a loss of only one percent, he said.

Kirczenow drives a 2021 Hyundai Kona which he says has proven to be a great fit, despite the distance and the cold.

Despite the small crowd, Kirczenow said the impact on social media shows the event was a success.

“I think we’re clearly raising awareness,” he said.

Blair Mahaffy agreed. He’s been driving his first EV since fall of 2023, a Hyundai Ioniq 6.

Living in West Hawk Lake he said a member of his household commutes weekly to Winnipeg. His round trip to Steinbach and back home would total around 300 km.

Mahaffy said Ted Falk wasn’t the only one to share his views that EVs are impractical.

“We know that a whole bunch of local MPs sent out the same thing,” he said of Conservatives. “We wanted to confront that and say cold’s not a problem and long distances aren’t a problem and I think it’s important to speak to those messages because these are the things that speak to people’s fears.”

Others were prompted to attend by what they call misinformation as well.

Todd and Keri Heiland came out from Niverville with the 2023 Kona they’ve owned for two years.

“It’s been problem free and the stigma about EVs is false,” Todd said.

He admits he experiences a 40 percent reduction in battery life at -35 C but said in typical conditions it’s more like 25 to 30 percent.

He also uses it to commute from Niverville to Winnipeg and Steinbach.

“I just feel like there’s so much misinformation about electric vehicles and how they function in our environment,” Keri said.

And while she said she can counter myths when they’re expressed one on one, it disappointed her to see it in a mailer from their MP.

“I felt that was inappropriate for someone who’s a public figure,” she said.

Raymond and Nicole Lavergne came to the event from St Pierre.

Raymond estimated the round trip would cost him $1.26 for 70 km.

He’s spent just $418 driving 20,000 km in the last year, he said.

Standing outside her car, Nicole said infrastructure and attitudes need to change.

“We need more chargers and we need people to know that it’s safe and you can drive it in the wintertime,” she said. “My face is cold, but not my car.”

Raymond said he sold a Cadillac and a Corvette before buying the Tesla.

“The Tesla is as comfortable as the Cadillac and is faster than the Corvette,” he said.

Quentin MacCharles is also no stranger to answering questions about his EV.

He was the only one to show up in an electric truck, a Chevy Silverado.

“A lot of people ask questions,” he said. “There’s a lot of education needed.

But for Falk the issue remains one of choice.

He said he’s ridden in an EV before and thought the vehicle was cool.

“But people shouldn’t be forced to have to choose an electric vehicle over a gas or diesel powered vehicle,” he said. “I think that should be a consumer choice. There should be freedom of choice of what kind of vehicle they’d like to drive.”