Lethbridge residents are the second most likely in the province to consider buying an electric vehicle for their next auto purchase, according to a survey by the Alberta Motor Association.
The 2021 survey found 84 per cent of residents were moderately or very concerned about climate change and 30 per cent would consider buying an EV.
Cheryl Dick, board president for the AMA, says the organization is preparing for 2035, when the federal government has committed all new vehicles will be electric.
“I don’t know why people individually are motivated by it, but from the Alberta Motor Association’s perspective, it’s coming,” she says. “We want to be part of the evolution of motoring in Alberta. We have been doing it for a long time and we think that AMA can be that kind of support in electric vehicles — even though Alberta hasn’t done as much around electric vehicles as maybe some of the other provinces have, but the Alberta Motor Association is going to be on the leading part of that.”
The AMA has launched pilot projects in Edmonton, which Dick hopes will expand province-wide. Drivers’ Education students can choose to be trained in electric vehicles and AMA members who run out of battery on the road can have somebody sent out to give them a charge.
“We have just launched them and we are going to be seeing how it goes through 2023,” Dick says. “Given how fast this is going to happen, 2035 is not very far away. I expect we are going to be seeing things move quite quickly.”
The AMA also has charging stations at three locations across the province, including the Lethbridge location.