[MetroMPG]

Yesterday, Electric Mobility Canada sent e-mail advising its Ontario members that the province has lifted the ban on registering conversions.

Owners have to follow a procedure (not too draconian.. yet?) outlined below:

From: Repeal Ontario's Ban on Licensing Electric Vehicles! ...

"Dear EMC Ontario members, "I am pleased to announce that following consultations with officials at the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario (MTO) I have been advised by MTO this morning that the temporary moratorium on the registration of internal combustion engine vehicles converted to EVs in Ontario has been lifted.

"Effective today, converted vehicles can be registered as EVs at the following 3 locations:

* In Ottawa at the Laurier Avenue licence office
* In Toronto at the College Park licence office
* In Toronto North York at the Yonge and Sheppard vehicle office.

"To register, please bring along the vehicle safety standard certificate provided by an authorized garage.

"At the vehicle licence office, you will need to sign a declaration to the effect that the vehicle has been converted to EV operation.

"Upon registration, MTO will issue a decal for placement on the vehicle. This decal will alert first responders that the vehicle is an EV.

"EMC is appreciative of MTO’s collaboration in this important area.

"Further to the above, EMC has agreed to work with MTO in developing guidelines to define appropriate safety requirements for EV conversions. And, through MTO, EMC will work with the MTO counterparts in other provincial and territorial jurisdictions to achieve national consensus on such guidelines. When this process begins, EMC will involve its interested members."

If the Ottawa or Toronto locations are not convenient to you, please contact MTO or ServiceOntario directly to see what arrangements can be made to assist you in registering your converted electric vehicle.

Based on this communication, there is no longer any need to protest to the Minister or other government officials about this issue. However, communications to those officials of thanks for attending to the matter in a reasonable fashion will undoubtedly carry shock value (in a good way).

Now, let's get busy and put some more zero-emissions EVs on the road. If you are doing a conversion, you have until June 30, 2010 to qualify for the retail sales tax rebate. (Rumour has it that conversions will not qualify for any incentives under the new rules starting on July 1st with the advent of the HST in Ontario.)