A visit to the Auto Show makes it clear: the future is electric

I abstain from my usual complaints about electric cars and just take it all in.

Buick Wildcat

I used to go to the big Canadian International Auto Show, so I could complain about all the pickup trucks with ridiculous front ends that were as high as I am. The last show I attended was all trucks and a smattering of concept electric cars. Four years later and it is a different world. It is a smaller show, with big players like Ford and Mercedes not participating, but the buzz this year is all electric. And they are for real; this stunning Buick Wildcat is a concept car, the prettiest Buick since the 1965 Riviera, but you can put real money down on a convention centre full of real electric cars, not just vaporware.

Of course, they are all bloody big pumped-up things, with grilles that seem designed to slice pedestrians into little pieces, and why does an electric car have a grille at all?

I’m not sure the designers have quite figured out what to do with the front end of thse things. They are mostly jellybeans for aerodynamics and probably the Euro N-CAP pedestrian safety testing.

One of the biggest displays was for a car brand I had never heard of, Vinfast. It’s designed by Pininfarina (they could have done better) and made in Vietnam. It’s big and powerful, with 510 km range. Weirdly, it costs just over C$50K for the car without the battery, which you rent by the month. The idea is that when the battery degrades to 70%, they swap it out for a new one. As batteries generally improve every year, the swap is likely an upgrade in power and range. I don’t know if that will catch on, but we will likely see many more cars coming out of countries like China and Vietnam.

But wait, what’s this? And who’s that at the table? It’s a Sarit electric tricycle with a safety cage and aluminum body, and that’s Frank Stronach, the 90-year-old founder of Magna International, with his latest venture.

The Sarit can go 100 km at up to 32 km/hr (20 MPH) with plenty of storage behind the driver. It will cost about C$6,000 when it is released next year. Daniel LajeunesseVP, Micro-Mobility, tells us that the motor pumps out 2000 watts, way above the 500-watt e-scooter limit, though it does comply with the scooter speed limit. And, since it is Frank Stronach twisting arms, it will be legal in the bike lanes, at least in Ontario. The battery is a chunky 48 volts and 96 Ampere-Hours, or 4.6 kWhr. Stronach thinks he will sell a lot of them, telling Driving that regular cars will be less popular in the future: “In three years, fuel prices will triple. In eight years, fuel will be rationed and used only for essential purposes. Micro-mobility is the future of transportation.”

I still believe that the future of urban transportation is the e-bike, so I was happy that Virginia Block of Amego was there, even though her booth was totally ignored. I used the opportunity to ask if my theory about the future of e-bikes was true- that the bikes like the Tern behind her, with more cargo capacity and smaller wheels, are taking over.

Virginia told me that a lot of her business is with couriers and delivery people, and they love the solid and affordable ET.cycle, and that last year they were all buying the T series with the big wheels. This year, they are all buying the F because it can carry the same load but with a lower centre of gravity and greater maneuverability.

And then there is the smallest EV of them all, the Glüxkind AI stroller. I want one for my granddaughter Clementine! It will run for eight hours, and pushing it is like pushing air; it is effortless, up or down hills. If you are carrying your child, it follows you on its own. If you are having a coffee, it goes into rock-my-baby mode, back and forth. A bargain at $3800.

But whether you are rolling on two wheels on an e-bike or going off-road glamping in a Potential Adventure 1,

A marvellous little UTV (Utility Task Vehicle, not legal on highways) only 5’4” wide so that can go anywhere; it’s clear that the future is electric.