Tag: cottage commute

Categories
Cottage Life

What you need to know for your next hybrid or electric vehicle purchase

Photo by Smile Fight/Shutterstock

As part of its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, Canada has introduced new regulations to mandate one-fifth of all vehicles sold in Canada be electric by 2026.

With the price of gasoline being projected to rise again, and consumers worrying about the legacy of fossil fuel emissions, now is the perfect time for Canadians to shift toward hybrid and battery-powered electric vehicles.

But making an informed choice can be daunting. There are many different new forms of propulsion systems and energy-storage methods among hybrid and battery-powered electric vehicles—all of them different from conventional gas-burning cars.

The sheer number of hybrid and electric vehicle options can make the idea of switching to a hybrid or electric vehicle daunting for many. Here’s a guide to understanding hybrid and electric vehicles and deciding which is most suitable for your lifestyle.

What makes hybrid and electric cars different?

Traditional gas-powered cars use a type of engine called internal combustion engines that use fuel to propel themselves. However, even high-performance gasoline engines are only 20 to 35 per cent efficient.

In other words, a gas-powered car loses two-thirds of its energy in the form of heat, rather than useful work. Electric and hybrid vehicles, on the other hand, are much more efficient.

This is because in hybrid and electric vehicles, unlike gas-powered cars, only part of—or none of—the propelling force is generated by engines. They use electric machines, featuring a high-efficiency energy conversion process at around 90 per cent to propel the vehicle. Electric machines improve fuel economy and drivability.

Hybrid electric vehicles

Before deciding which type of electric vehicle to purchase, it’s important for buyers to know whether electric vehicle chargers are available in areas where they live and drive. If charging stations are difficult to access and buyers do a lot of long-distance driving, the hybrid electric vehicle is a good option to invest in.

Hybrid electric vehicles straddle the line between fully electric vehicles and conventional cars by pairing an internal combustion engine with an electric machine. Hybrid vehicles store energy in both the fuel tank and battery pack.

One distinct difference among hybrid vehicles is how the vehicle turns the engine’s power into movement, known as the powertrain. Powertrains are important because they affect a vehicle’s fuel economy, drivability and purchasing price. There are three main types of hybrid vehicle classifications based on this.

Series hybrid system

Series hybrid vehicles, like the BMW i3 extended range and Fisker Karma, only use the motor to provide the driving force. The power flows from the engine to the generator to the battery, then to the motor, the axle and finally the wheels.

The engine works at its narrow optimal region with high efficiency and delivers mechanical energy to the coupled generator, which later converts the mechanical energy to electric power and charges the battery.

Because the generator and motor normally have an efficiency around 90 per cent, the conversion process delivers improved fuel economy.

In addition, part of the mechanical energy is converted back to electric power during the braking process and stored in the battery pack, resulting in better fuel economy. This makes it a good choice for stop-and-go driving caused by heavy traffic or traffic signals.

Parallel hybrid vehicles

Parallel hybrid vehicles couple both the engine and electric machine to the transmission. Compared to the series hybrid architecture of using one generator and one propulsion motor, the parallel hybrid system uses one electric machine, but the engine does not always work optimally.

This configuration is less suitable for the stop-and-go scenario, but has better performance at high-speed driving since both propulsion sources operate with high efficiency. Examples of parallel hybrid vehicles include the Honda Insight, Land Rover Range Rover P400e, Hyundai Tucson Hybrid, Hyundai Ioniq and BMW X5 530e.

Series-parallel hybrid vehicles

Series-parallel hybrids combine the advantages of the series and parallel configurations. The drawback of these hybrids is the price—because these vehicles consist of both series and parallel systems, they are more complex, resulting in a higher price.

Examples of series-parallel hybrid vehicles are the Toyota Prius, Lexus CT 200h, Ford Fusion Hybrid and Toyota RAV4.

Fully electric vehicles

If charging stations are easily accessible and long-distance driving is not a concern, battery-powered electric vehicles are a good option for buyers to consider. Fully electric vehicles rely solely on an electric machine and have no combustion engine. They obtain energy from the electric grid and store it in its battery pack.

Electric vehicles are very efficient because of the energy conversion process of electric machines. Apart from the size and type of the battery pack, different electric vehicles use electric machines in different ways.

Most electric vehicles use one electric machine as the propulsion source—either front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive. One drawback of this configuration is the electric machine does not always operate at its optimal efficiency. This affects how far the vehicle can be driven between charges.

Why an electric car is a viable cottage vehicle

To improve their efficiency and drivability, some electric vehicles use multiple electric machines. Some vehicles split vehicle power between two motors, which results in higher efficiency and a broader speed range. The Model 3, Model Y and Model S Tesla cars have this configuration, allowing all-wheel-drive and better traction control.

Another way electric vehicles improve drivability is by using three electric machines. This allows vehicles to control the torque in rear wheels separately in a process known as torque vectoring control. Typical examples of this configuration are the Model S Plaid and Model X Plaid.

There has never been a better time to switch to an electric vehicle. To help Canadians transition to this greener vehicle option, the Canadian government has financial supports available. The Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program provides cash rebates for battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Some provinces, like British Columbia and Québec, also offer their own provincial rebates.The Conversation

Gaoliang Fang is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre, McMaster University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

6 electric boats and PWCs on the market

Need more news?

Find your cottage state of mind all year round with our weekly newsletter, Dockside

Sign up here

Categories
Cottage Life

What the new gas tax cut in Ontario means for your cottage commute

Photo by Shutterstock/Beearter

With a trip to the cottage costing you $100 in gas (give or take, depending on your vehicle) heading north is becoming cost-prohibitive for cottagers and renters alike. To help combat the soaring gas prices, Ontario Premier Doug Ford cut the gas tax by 5.7 cents per litre on July 1. The tax cut will remain in effect until December 31, with the possibility of an extension if prices remain inflated.

“People and businesses are feeling the pinch of high gas prices and grocery bills,” says Peter Bethlenfalvy, Ontario’s Minister of Finance, in a statement. “Our government is cutting the gas and fuel tax rates to put money back in people’s pockets and help keep costs down.”

On July 1, when the Ontario government implemented the gas tax cut, prices dropped 11 cents overnight to an average of $193.9 cents per litre. This came as much-needed relief for drivers after gas prices hit a record high of $2.15 in early June.

The province’s dizzyingly high gas prices are the result of low supply and high demand. “We’ve got crude oil inventories down 13 per cent—according to the last U.S. government report—which is not good,” says Roger McKnight, chief petroleum analyst for En-Pro. “That’s why prices went up.”

The reopening of the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put constraints on the global supply of gas and oil, driving up inflation rates.

Gas prices in Canada have also been hiked by the federal government’s carbon tax, which was bumped up to 11.05 cents per litre on April 1.

Despite concerns over Ontario’s record-setting gas prices, McKnight says they aren’t likely to last. As of July 7, gas prices in Ontario dropped another 12 cents per litre to $1.79. Again, a relief to drivers, but the underlying cause for the price drop is concerning. Economists are predicting a recession, McKnight says. “Unless there’s some glimmer of hope or some optimism on Wall Street that this recession will not happen, then prices will continue to fall in the short term.”

If a recession does hit, which is possible considering the Bank of Canada continues to raise interest rates, then demand for gas will drop as people lose jobs and attempt to save money.

A recession is a possible outcome that people need to be prepared for, McKnight says. But for the time being, if he were a consumer watching gas prices drop 12 cents per litre or more, “I’d hop in my car and get on with this driving season. I don’t know how long it will last…I can’t see prices spiking or reversing anytime in the immediate future. So, have some fun.”

Feature Video

Categories
Cottage Life

These are 2022’s worst roads in Ontario, according to CAA

Photo by Shutterstock/94Mark

Tighten those hubcaps, drivers! The Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) has released its 2022 list of Ontario’s worst roads, and there are a number of pot-hole-infested hot spots not far from cottage country.

Topping this year’s list is Hamilton’s Barton Street East. Residents nominated the road, which runs east-to-west through the northern section of the city, for its large potholes and severe cracking that causes the pavement to resemble alligator skin.

“Barton Street East has been on the list before,” says Teresa Di Felice, assistant vice president of government and community relations at CAA. “With no funding announcements being made and no immediate fixes to the problem, it went from fifth place in 2019 to third place in 2021 and now first place in 2022. As time goes on, the infrastructure gets worse.”

CAA’s Worst Roads campaign is run annually and is designed to bring critical road infrastructure to the attention of government officials. The goal is to make the roads safer, Di Felice says. Poor road conditions contribute to accidents. In the case of potholes, people often try to swerve around them, veering into other lanes, or damage their vehicles by hitting one.

Most roads on CAA’s list are overseen by municipalities, but Di Felice says the list is meant to attract the attention of all levels of government. Even if a road falls under municipal jurisdiction, it’s often the provincial and federal governments that can create funding programs for municipalities in need of road repairs.

Di Felice recalls the mayor of Timmins encouraging residents to vote in the Worst Road campaign because he needed funding to tackle critical road infrastructure within the city and wanted to highlight the project’s necessity to senior levels of government.

Residents can nominate a road through CAA’s website, detailing why it’s the worst road in Ontario. This can include issues such as traffic, poor signage, lack of sidewalks or bike lanes, or plain old potholes. The nominations are then voted on, whittling down the list.

Once CAA has a working list, the organization partners with the Ontario Road Builders’ Association, an advocacy group devoted to improving transportation infrastructure in Ontario, to assess whether the roads are as bad as residents’ say they are.

Last year, a Prince Edward County resident put signboards up along Victoria Road, encouraging people to vote for the road through CAA’s website. At the time, Victoria Road was a main thruway for tourists, riddling the road with potholes and cracks.

“[Victoria Road] actually ended up getting so many votes that it climbed to the top of the list,” Di Felice says. It has since managed to remove itself from 2022’s list.

Besides listing the top 10 worst roads in Ontario, CAA also uses its voting system to create a regional list, highlighting the worst roads in eight regions across the province. This year’s regional list includes a number of spots in cottage country, such as Laclie Street in Orillia, Barker Street in Prince Edward County, and Algonquin Boulevard East in Timmins.

This year, 182 municipalities had roads nominated. Drivers accounted for the majority of votes cast, followed by cyclists and pedestrians. Eighty per cent of voters cited potholes as the reason for selecting a road.

The Worst Road campaign has been running since 2003 and has helped sway a number of politicians to take action on poor road infrastructure. Last year, for instance, the mayor of Windsor committed $8.1 million in funding to the Lauzon Parkway, which was named on 2021’s regional list.

“It was a multi-million dollar project that needed to be done,” De Felice says, “and he announced that he was putting the money towards [the road] and that he wanted to see Lauzon off the list.”

Here’s this year’s list of the Top 10 worst roads in Ontario:

  1. Barton Street East, Hamilton
  2. Eglinton Avenue West, Toronto
  3. Barker Street, Prince Edward County
  4. County Road 49, Prince Edward County
  5. Carling Avenue, Ottawa
  6. Eglinton Avenue East, Toronto
  7. Lake Shore Boulevard East, Toronto
  8. Finch Avenue West, Toronto
  9. Bronson Avenue, Ottawa
  10. Queen Street, Kingston

Here are CAA’s worst Ontario roads by region:

  • Central— Laclie Street, Orillia
  • Eastern— Barker Street, Prince Edward County
  • Halton-Peel-York-Durham— Hurontario Street, Mississauga
  • Niagara— Brookfield Avenue, Niagara Falls
  • North— Algonquin Boulevard East, Timmins
  • Southwest— Plank Road, Sarnia
  • Western— Speedvale Avenue West, Guelph
  • Ottawa— Carling Avenue, Ottawa

Categories
Cottage Life

5 ways to spend less on gas

Photo by Syda Productions / Shutterstock

With fuel prices escalating of late, now is the ideal time to revisit fuel efficiency with a few helpful tips on how drivers can spend less on gas by making fewer trips to the pump.

Tip #1: Do your maintenance

A properly maintained vehicle will consistently outperform a neglected unit, and therefore use less fuel. Regular service is essential but there are several do-it-yourself tasks which owners can, and should, perform on a weekly or, at a bare minimum, monthly basis. If possible, set a regular scheduled day for this, perhaps the 1st weekend of every month.

First, check the fluid levels under the hood (oil, coolant etc.). Also, this is the perfect time to top off that windshield washer fluid.

Second, monitor your tire pressure—underinflated tires are one of the leading causes of poor fuel economy. In fact, a drop of just a few pounds (lbs) of air pressure could reduce your fuel economy by as much as 10-15%. It is also a serious safety issue which can lead to accidents. Typically, recommended pressures are to be found on the decal inside the driver’s door or on the driver’s door pillar. Failing that, they can be found in the owner’s handbook.

This task should be performed when the tires are cold and, if possible, refrain from using gas station gauges as they are notoriously inaccurate. Personally, I use a quality dial style pressure gauge (available at any good automotive store) and my advice is don’t cheap out.  A quality brand product might cost a little more but it will supply years of service. I also carry a small portable compressor in my vehicle, just in case. Again, I would recommend purchasing quality (I carry a cordless battery-pack DEWALT unit). Should you go this route, a rather accurate pressure gauge is already built into the unit.

Tip # 2: Learn to drive smoothly & efficiently

Drivers tend to believe that it’s their accelerator pedal which burns all the fuel, yet unnecessary use of the braking system can certainly waste fuel. Why use up all that forward energy by hitting the brakes unnecessarily?

So keep your eyes up and read the road ahead—if that traffic light has been green for a while now, there’s a very good chance that it will soon turn red. Be prepared for this. In fact, a quick glance at the pedestrian countdown numbers used on many intersections today is a great indicator of when that change might happen. Coasting smoothly to a stop will not only save on your fuel bill, but also the wear and tear costs of your braking system.

When pulling away, try to roll gently onto the accelerator pedal rather than stab at it. Smoothness truly is the key to greater fuel economy. In fact, master the art of smooth driving and you could realize savings of as much as 20 per cent or more, depending on the size and type of your vehicle.

Many years ago, I was trained as a chauffeur and this is what I was taught during that training; visualize your grandmother sitting in your back seat sipping on a glass of sherry and drive accordingly. Try it, it works!

Tip # 3: Declutter your vehicle

We all do it! Throw items in the trunk and forget about them. I had a friend once who carried a full set of golf clubs, just in case! That’s like constantly carrying an extra person in your vehicle! So it’s a good idea to go through your vehicle every now and then with the mindset of decluttering and discarding unnecessary weight.

This particularly applies to racks and roof-mounted storage boxes. While useful when you need them, if you’re using them less than once a month, I‘d suggest that the few minutes required to remove them is well worth it. The wind resistance/drag alone from these can easily cause a drop of between 5-10 per cent in fuel economy, again depending your car’s size and type.

The best roof racks for cottagers on the market, according to experts

Tip # 4: Don’t be idle

Sitting in an idling vehicle gets you nowhere, but it does burn fuel. So whenever possible, the golden rule is, 60 seconds or more, switch off your engine. I’m particularly mindful of this when it comes to drive-through restaurants. My own rule is, more than 3-4 vehicles in the lineup, I simply park up and go inside.

Idling a vehicle is possibly the greatest waste of fuel. When you truly think about it, it is 100 per cent inefficient in fuel terms, so there are considerable savings to be had by reducing this.

Tip # 5: Use the tools you’ve got

Most modern vehicles have a host of features designed to assist drivers (eco mode etc.) and one of my favourites is the instant fuel economy display. Drive utilizing this feature and you’ll soon learn how to save fuel.

In town, it will teach you the foolishness of being heavy footed and, on the highway, you will learn precisely where your vehicle’s sweet spot is (all vehicles have a “cruising sweet spot”). The difference of a few kph can produce a huge change to fuel economy, especially over a long distance trip.

Make use of this display and watch those numbers for just a few weeks and you will most certainly become a far more fuel efficient driver.

Safe driving tips for Canada’s varied landscapes

For your drive: Reader picks for where to find Ontario’s best butter tarts