Province purchases 4 electric cars for staff, interested in buying more for taxi industry

The P.E.I. government has purchased four electric vehicles at a cost of $45,000 each to reduce its carbon footprint andpromote the cars to Islanders as a viable means of transportation, says Environment Minister Richard Brown.

Brown said the cars will be used by himself as well as government staff whose work involves duties like air monitoring and drinking water protection.

He said the province is interested inpurchasingelectric vehicles for the taxi industry as a way to showcase the cars.

"We want to show people of Prince Edward Island that electric vehicles are good, they're good for Prince Edward Island and they're good for the environment," he said.

The taxi companies would still be responsible for paying for the electricity, insurance and other expenses, Brown said.

Brown said he has been speaking with federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna about how the governmentcan offer incentives to get more electric vehicles on the road.

He said the province is committed to installing more fast-charging stations across the Island in time for the summer tourist season.

"They're an important piece of infrastructure in order to make electric vehicles viable here on Prince Edward Island."

According to the province, there are an estimated 363 light fleet vehicles used by the public service, 232 of which are light or heavy-duty trucks, 58 full-size vans, 47 minivans and SUVs, and 26 cars.

It said the average annual mileagefor a government vehicle is about 41,000 kilometres.

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