Branchez-Vous electric car show aims to convince Quebecers to ditch fossil fuels
2,000 electric charging stations to be installed in next 18 months
Quebec wants 100,000 electric cars on the roads in the next five years. It's still far from the target: so far, there are only 9,000.
That's where Branchez-Vous, the biggest electric car show in the province, comes in.
The event, which took place at the Gilles Villeneuve racetrack until Saturday, sought to convince more Quebecers to make the switch from gasoline. The province invested almost $100,000 into the car show.
It worked on Pierre Lavigueur. He was among the first in Canada to try out the Twizy, a new electric two-seater by French automaker Renault.
With a narrow body — the passenger sits behind the driver — and scissor-like doors, it bills itself as the solution for easy parking in crowded cities.
"It's so small you can go almost anywhere; it's probably very easy to park. For the city, it's perfect, really," Lavigueur said.
The electric model maxes out at 40 kilometres per hour and is only available by lease at $99 dollars per month, including insurance.
Terrebonne-based distributor AZRA will lease the vehicles. The company announced Saturday it will install 2,000 electric charging stations over 18 months across the province.
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Quebec's Transport Minister Jacques Daoust says he's working to amend a law to allow the car on the road.
He's hoping that within the next month these little cars could be zipping in downtown Montreal.