Can an EV handle a Canadian winter?

Hydro-Québec i-MiEV pilot evaluates electric vehicles in Boucherville, winter performance, EV charging behavior, quick chargers, range, and smart grid impacts on Quebec's power network, guiding charger siting and consumer education.

The upcoming three-year trial of 50 electric Mitsubishi cars in this South Shore city is “at the heart” of Hydro-Québec’s move toward the electrification of ground transport, a senior director of the utility said.

Although Hydro-Québec is involved in tests with four different manufacturers of electric or hybrid vehicles, the $4.5-million Mitsubishi project is the largest EV test in Canada, said Pierre-Luc Desgagné, head of strategic planning and government affairs.

“We will have real-life experience with real people driving those cars, so the data provided will be very significant,” he said.

Desgagné made his remarks as the all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV made its debut in Boucherville. That emissions-free car, right off the assembly line in Japan, is on a 7,500-kilometre cross-Canada promotional tour.

The first five i-MiEV test cars are to arrive in Boucherville in December – in time to taste a real winter – followed by another 10 in the spring. The rest of the cars will follow in several batches.

The first cars will be used by employees of the municipality, the utility and local industries. Subsequently, local businesspeople and residents will have access to the test cars.

One key goal of the project is to see how the i-MiEV handles a Quebec winter, another is to determine whether Quebecers warm up to an ultra-quiet vehicle that comes with its own plug.

Mitsubishi’s i-MiEV, which holds four people, can travel up to 120 kilometres per charge.

Its three-way battery charge system means it will take 14 hours to charge if plugged into a 110-volt system, seven hours to charge if plugged into 220 volts and 30 minutes to gain an 80-per-cent charge if plugged into a “quick charger.”

Hydro-Québec figures that about 80 per cent of the recharging of the test vehicles will occur at the workplace or at home.

The test project will help determine where the public quick-chargers should be located and best methods to show consumers how much, or little, electricity the vehicles require.

Although consumer behaviour will be scrutinized, Hydro-Québec already knows that “the customer will want a very simple and seamless experience,” Desgagné said.

The project will also assess the electric vehicles’ impact on the province’s electricity grid.

Boucherville was selected as the project’s host municipality in part because of its proximity to Hydro-Québec’s research institute and the site of an upcoming trial related to the so-called “smart-grid,” a more interactive grid that is seen as working well with plug-in vehicles.

The i-MiEV, which stands for Mitsubishi Innovative Electric Vehicle, is sold in Japan for the equivalent of about $42,000, said Tomoki Yanagawa, a Mitsubishi Canada vice-president.

When the vehicle arrives in Canadian showrooms sometime in late 2011, it should be priced in between $30,000 and $40,000, said Yanagawa, adding that costs – mostly related to the battery – should fall as production numbers rise.

In the U.S., PG&E and Edison tests were planned for Mitsubishi cars to prepare the market.

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