I'm looking for more details, but it appears the forward-thinking province of Ontario (Canada's most populous province, and location of most of Canada's conversions) has put a moratorium in place on the registration of electric conversions.
Not yet sure how this will affect the ForkenSwift, or whether it only applies to new applications.
Here's a letter in today's Ottawa Citizen from a member of Ottawa's EV group (who also runs a business doing conversions):
Quote:
MTO moratorium short-circuits electric vehicle conversions
The Ottawa Citizen April 3, 2010 6:06 AM
For 100 years, we have been able to drive electric-powered vehicles on the roads in Ontario. For the last 30 years or so about the only way to get an electric vehicle was to build it yourself by converting a conventional gasoline-powered car to electric power.
This practice has been followed by many electric-vehicle enthusiasts and is fully legal and encouraged by the government because you can apply for up to a $1,000 sales tax rebate from the Minister of Revenue of Ontario under the "vehicles powered by alternate fuel, RST 702" program.
Now the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) has declared a moratorium on the registration of electric vehicles pending a review of the requirements and regulations applying to this type of vehicle registration.
This sudden action has left several consumers in limbo having already spent many thousands of dollars (as much as a new car) on vehicle conversions and no way to register or license their car for the road. We are not talking about thousands of vehicles but a few forward-thinking individuals.
I am all for ensuring that safe, reliable vehicles are on our roads but find the unexplained moratorium with no date in sight of when it might be released regressive. To my knowledge there has never been an issue related to the safety of an electric vehicle conversion or the safety of first responders to accidents in Ontario, Canada or the U.S. over the 30 years that I have personally and professionally been involved with electric vehicles.
I have to question why electric vehicles have been singled out and treated this way. We all await commercial sale of electric vehicles from the manufacturers, but in the meantime let us realize our dreams of owning an electric car now.
Richard Lane, Ottawa
President, REV Consultants Ltd.
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source:
MTO moratorium short-circuits electric vehicle conversions