Refer to them as block heater plug-ins
The fourth annual MEVAfest goes Saturday at Assiniboine Park where Robert Elms said people will discover electric vehicles are not only great for the environment, but they're affordable, quiet, can handle a Manitoba winter, and are a blast to drive.
"Manitoba is the best location in the world to own an electric car, because we have over a half-million charging stations in Manitoba," said Elms, a Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association member. "Most of us refer to them as block heater plug-ins, but for those of us who drive electric vehicles they are charging stations.
"They're not the fast chargers, which we need more of if we're doing highway driving."
MEVA members range from car buffs to mechanical engineers, energy analysts, university professors, and farmers.
"The one thing they all have in common is the recognition that not only are electric cars the way of the future but — as people who come to MEVAfest discover — they are excellent vehicles and are perfect for a lot of Manitobans right now," Elms said.
Chances are you've driven by an electric car without knowing it.
"There are well over 4,000 electric and hybrid electric vehicles in Manitoba now," Elms said.