Caledon residents come together to learn about sustainable transportation

By Zachary Roman

Caledon residents showed their interest in making the ways they get around sustainably last Saturday.

On July 9, the Town of Caledon, the Caledon chapter of the Electric Vehicle Society, and EcoCaledon co-hosted the Electrify Caledon event at the Southfields Village Community Centre.

While brand-new electric cars were certainly showstoppers at the educational outing, the event focused on sustainable transportation as a whole too.

One form of sustainable transportation that's gaining a lot of popularity these days is electric biking. There's a new company in Caledon that rents electric bikes, and they were on hand at Electrify Caledon.

Caledon eBike Rentals is based out of Cheltenham and was founded by business partners Ron Lyons and Darryl Judge. 

Lyons explained he and Judge actually discussed the idea of starting a bike rental business about five or six years ago. It wasn't until he saw another E-Bike rental business that he knew Caledon would be the perfect place to do the same thing.

Lyons and Judge purchased their E-Bikes in February and in March the bikes came in. When May came around, they did test rides with friends and family and finally launched in June.

“It's coming together really well, we're getting great reviews, people with smiles on their faces when they get back,” said Lyons. Some bikers who have had injuries that kept them from riding have been able to get back into it thanks to electric bikes, said Lyons, and people that didn't ride because they were scared of Caledon's hills have been able to get out and conquer them.

“You get out there and it's good for you physically and mentally,” said Lyons. “We're so blessed because we have so many cool spots to visit.”

At Electrify Caledon, co-chair of EcoCaledon Lucrezia Chiappetta gave a presentation on sustainable transportation. She explained EcoCaledon focuses on all kinds of actions that help the environment: for example, when it comes to transportation, someone could do something as big as make their next vehicle purchase an electric vehicle, or something as small as remembering to turn their car off when they are waiting in a parking lot.

“It's great to have electric vehicles but if your government is using non-renewable resources to create electricity then… it doesn't have as many benefits. So here in Ontario, we're lucky because the majority of our electricity comes from hydro,” said Chiappetta. “Having the EV is still three times more efficient than not having it, but having a clean energy grid itself is an even better option.”

Chiappetta said in the next few years there is going to be a boom in the amount of makes and models of electric vehicles available to consumers in Canada.

“It's going to cost us a hell of a lot more to deal with climate change than to prevent it in the first place… I think companies are coming around and I think that that's important because it's not just one group. It's not just governments that need to create policy. It's not just individuals that need to change their actions. It's everyone in general, right…we all have to be taking the right actions to help reduce our emissions,” said Chiappetta. “One thing I do, I always tell people through my work at EcoCaledon to vote with your dollar. So especially for a young person… a lot of times we're talking to young people and they can't control who their parents vote for or who's being elected, but one thing they can control is what they buy. So making sure that [they're] buying from companies that support environmental and social justice… companies that invest in the planet.”

Caledon resident Geoff Day, a member of the Electric Vehicle Society, drives a Kia Soul EV and has been keeping track of interesting statistics about it such as how weather impacts its range and how much it costs to drive per kilometre.

“(The range) follows the temperature curve, and seven months of the year it's better than the average that Kia states and five months of the year it's worse,” said Day. “They say 383, but in the summer, I'll get 500. In the winter, I'll get around 300… that's just based on my statistics, it wouldn't be for everyone.”

Keeping track of his vehicle's statistics has become a bit of a hobby for Day, who is a retired teacher and computer expert, and each year he makes a report on the statistics. This year, he's focusing his report on how the temperature impacts his vehicle's range. Day and his wife both drive electric vehicles, and Day said the reason they do it is for the environment. 

“I feel that, unfortunately, my generation didn't know what we were doing. We inadvertently made the climate worse, and now it's time to pay it back,” said Day.

At Electrify Caledon, Day said he had a ton of fun meeting other owners of electric vehicles and chatting to them about their cars, many of which he had never seen in person before.

He also loves meeting people who do not drive electric vehicles and sharing his knowledge with them. “An event like this is great because I'm not selling electric cars, I'm selling the concept of driving electrics. It's great for the environment and it's great for the pocket book, too,” said Day.