Tesla owners charge up during gathering in Red Deer

“Granted, the Teslas are an expensive car, there’s no denying that. Sales do indicate there are about 2,000 paid reservations for their lower economical Model 3 variant, which will hopefully be produced in the next couple of months in the US, and then make its way to Canada maybe by year’s end.”

Batiuk says not only are the cars becoming more common in our province, but so are the chargers. The one at the Sheraton was Alberta’s first, opening two years ago. Others have since been installed in Canmore, Fort Macleod and Calgary with one soon coming to Edmonton.

Tesla owners purchase their vehicles for different reasons, Batiuk continued.

“There are owners that got the car because maybe it’s fast and they don’t necessarily have the EV-centric outlook, which is fine. But then there are those owners who moved up from maybe a Toyota Prius or a Nissan LEAF into the grand-daddy of EVs, which is the Tesla,” he says. “Then there are those that maybe got it just because of the performance, but had their eyes opened to the eco-component. That’s kind of a neat thing to see.”

Batiuk says he was already somewhat eco-minded when buying his Tesla, but through conversations with other owners, he’s since decided to invest in other green technology like solar panels fo his home.

“Studies have shown that even counting for the manufacturing and shipment of the EV to the owner, even in coal-heavy Alberta, it’s a significant advantage to driving an EV versus a typical gasoline car. That’s only going to improve with the fact that our grid’s just getting greener, both with the moving away from coal and the ability to do solar and other renewable sources of energy,” he says.

The Edmontonian adds meetups for the 75-member club are simply about getting people together.

“The Tesla community, they like to know they’re not alone and to share war stories and victory stories and just experiences of what it’s been like to have a Tesla and an EV in this province.”

For more information, head to TeslaOwnersClub.ca or AlbertaEV.ca.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Tesla owners charge up during gathering in Red Deer

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