Ontario suspends registrations of converted electric vehicles (update: ban lifted)

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Yeah that way they can quit missing out on charging the 40 or 50 small lightweigh EV cars in Canada higher road taxes than they would otherwise to penalize them.

I'm sure $1000 a year in lost taxes is killing the whole nation of Canada. http://forum.ecomodder.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif
http://forum.ecomodder.com/images/smilies/rolleyes.gif

Nobody ever said politicians where smart did they?!

I'd say it's fairly likely a combination of the above... They want to tax them somehow and they have finally figured out that they need some sort of check/control that it's actually electric and actually safe... So since they are politicians they naturally go against the well known policy of not "fixing" what isn't broken and suspend it while they figure out if it is infact broken...

At least that's how politics/politicians works around here... If you happen to have smarter ones around you let me know... I can always move...

[Mattt]

Originally Posted by redyaris

If rules are made to be bocken? then how close can one get to the edge of the rule with out quite bracking it? Would an EV with a tiny Honda 25cc industrial engine or equivelent be considered a hybrid? quite frankly the cause may be erelavent, the question is how to get around the problem rules.

Yes...they can be broken. In the case that I am about to mention, even bent. If someone wants to put an EV on the road(one that they converted), they just have to bend the rules a little. Buy the stupid beater(car), 2) fix it up ICE style so that it's "road ready", (I know that there's a whole ton of cars out there, that with a little work can be fixed up, sent for e-test and safety and then registered. Do you Know what a very light Saturn SL1 SL2 is worth these days AND is still in relatively good shape? Nice and cheap in the 2,000 CAD range. )

After you get through the stupid red tape, pull everything out and convert your ICE to EV. There. Period. I'm furious at all the bureaucracy involved to get it done...We want EV's...Just give them to us!

Answer me this: WHO WILL KNOW or care...? E-tests are gonna faze out soon anyway. Just keep your head down, drive safe, follow the limit etc.
And so what if you got fined? It would probably "feel" worth it. Rebellion against a system designed to take liberties away from us.

Anyway, while I wait for the Tesla Model S to hit the shelf in 2011, that's what I would do.
Call it a "tune-up" afffter the safety/e-test.

[Mattt]

Even if you get pulled over, when would a police officer EVER say: "Pop the hood, I want to make sure you have an engine..." (?) I don't think so. He'll give you a ticket for whatever reason he pulled you over, and be on his merry way.

[bennelson]

I got a speeding ticket in my electric car.

Best publicity I ever got.
It ended up being on the front page of the county newspaper.

Maybe we do need an EV converter to get busted to draw attention to the issue?!

[Mattt]

I'm willing to put money on it. You know? Cops are human... They would probably think its cool and sometimes wave you. I wonder, did he give you a ticket for speeding or cause it was EV was it combined?

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Mattt

did he give you a ticket for speeding or cause it was EV was it combined?

My EV is completely, 100% legal in every way.....except how fast it was going. (I am in the USA, and meet all the requirements in my state.)

I DO disagree with what the speed limit was there. (Rich people area/speed trap.)

When I told the police officer that I didn't even have an engine in the car, he didn't even batt an eyelash.

I ended up going to traffic court, and the Judge there decided that there should be a newspaper article on it. (I wasn't about to say NO to a judge!)

The article ended up starting off about my speeding ticket, but most of the rest of the article was about the efficiency of the car, the environmental, and cost-saving benefits, and all the other positives around EVs.

It was good, positive, publicity for EVs.

Maybe our Canadian friends need to stage some sort of "silent protest" where they idle their motors in front of the capital!

[Mattt]

Actually, I am Canadian. From Ontario and I've been setting up to buy the new Tesla Model S (coming in 2012) Excited. I will make something of a publicity tool out of it. It seems that it is road eligible here in Canada (according to the head office' comment) So the question is: Do you have the 50k+?
Well, I do...
And I will (and others) be an tool to drive down prices for future models. Its the little 40km/h cars (the "glorified golf carts") that the gov doesn't want on the road. And in a way, I get it. All they have to do is lay low and convert there car quietly for now until they (gov) can wrap their heads around an appropriate legislation. Instead of buying a 30k-40k mid class sedan, why not spend the extra 10k and get the Model S? the extra 10k will pay itself off in approx. 3 years. gas+maintenance etc.

I can't wait

[foghorn]

Actually this does not surprise me. For years I have compared Onterrible to California (known for massive red tape and too much litigation) and frequently we have less freedom in Ontario. If I didn't have so much family here I would move. Pull the pickle out of your asp Ontario!

Do not litigate. If you do, we all lose freedom.
Democracy with lobbyists is an oxymoron.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by foghorn

Democracy with lobbyists is an oxymoron.

Good signiture material

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Mattt

E-tests are gonna faze out soon anyway.

Where's that information coming from?

E-testing is one of 2 flies in the 'covert conversion' approach. You have to get an e-test every 2 years, and it's going to cause a bureacratic aneurism when you show up with an EV registered as an ICE for the test.

The other fly in the 'covert conversion' approach is insurance. The insurance co. will look for reasons to deny your claim should you ever have to make one. I'm quite sure that undeclared modifications are one of their top reasons these days.

Of course you could always tell the insurance co about the conversion, and not the licence people.