Entrepreneurs: an electric vehicle could be your ride to success
Business owners, imagine this: you’ve just purchased a brand-new electric vehicle (EV). You slide into the driver’s seat and the screen lights up, curated with your personal preferences for everything from music to climate control. You take it for a spin, and it’s the smoothest, most comfortable ride you’ve ever experienced.
As you cruise down the street, you’re feeling good, because you know for a fact you’ve cut down your contributions to greenhouse gasses, noise, and air pollution. What’s more, if your EV is branded with your company logo, you’re letting the world — including your potential clients — know that your business cares about climate.
We’re in a climate crisis, and increasingly, consumers are looking to support companies that care about their carbon footprint. However, many consumers won’t just be satisfied with a green brand image; they want to know exactly what a company is doing to be more sustainable.
Switching to an electric vehicle is one easy way to be more ecological, and to demonstrate your impact with hard numbers. It’s also the way of the future; according to recent projections, in about four years’ time, more than half of all passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sold will be electric. And it’s not hard to see why: today, EVs can average a range of about 300 kilometres. After ten years of use, batteries can be repurposed or recycled — and while you might pay more upfront for an EV, you’ll end up saving thousands of dollars on maintenance and gas.
As a cherry on top, some EVs are even gamified, allowing users to create driver profiles, and setting up challenges to see who is the most ecological. That’s taking team-building exercises to the next level.
Now, as a busy entrepreneur working hard to meet your margins, you’d be forgiven for thinking that EVs are out of the question, as they’re just too expensive. You’re not wrong — an average EV can cost between $30,000 to $40,000. But that’s where government incentives come in, including a tax-write off for zero-emission vehicles for businesses.
And, if an EV seems like it’s not a good fit, maybe you could try a hybrid? These offer a shorter range for driving, but if most of your business is local, it’s a viable and affordable alternative. You can plug into a regular electrical outlet and you can challenge yourself to see how long you can go without refuelling. Some folks go months!
So what’re you waiting for? Learn more about EVs and where you can buy one in Ottawa here.
Four Tips for Buying Your First Electric Vehicle
- Make sure you know all the tax incentives that are at your fingertips — you don’t want to pay more than you have to!
- You’ll need to buy a charger, and the price of electricity will differ depending on where you live. Make sure you do your research, but remember: the price of electricity will always be less expensive than paying for gas.
- Ottawa has 24 new on-street charging stations; make sure you know where they are.
- While it’s a fast-growing market, EVs are still relatively new, and your insurance company might not have a great deal of experience with them. When searching for the car that’s right for you, make sure you speak to your insurance company first, so you know the full price of insurance before making your final choice.
By James McNeil