Trans Canada Highway - "The World's Longest Green Highway"


Imagine - driving over 10,000 kilometers across Canada - from St. John’s Newfoundland to Victoria British Columbia - in ‘Sexy Tesla Roadster Electric Super Car’ without paying for fuel and without leaving any carbon footprint.

That is the journey underway by two adventuresome executives from Sun Country Highway (SCH), a wholly Canadian owned company focused on creating Canada’s electric vehicle infrastructure.

Sun Country Highway President and Founder Kent Rathwell and Vice President Christopher Misch are entering the final stretch of their cross country journey, hoping to reach Victoria by Friday, December 21st where Rathwell will dump a jar of water taken from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean. (See picture below)

The month long epic adventure is part of a Sun Country Highway’s mission to Green Canada’s Highways in 2012.

In collaboration with over 80 businesses and tourism destinations, Sun Country is launching its 100% publicly accessible EV charging network project connecting cities and towns across Canada, creating the longest, greenest highway in the world.

Electric vehicle charging stations have been installed strategically along the Trans Canada Highway.

The SCH plan is to ignite regionalized economic development and to simultaneously challenge electric vehicle manufacturers and auto parts suppliers to ramp up plug-in electric vehicle production.

By tackling the Trans Canada Highway, the SCH Team is aiming to install over 100 charging stations along the highway before Christmas and close to 200 charging stations in total. This EV charging network will permit EV owners to travel at no cost from coast to coast, 100% emissions free.

“We can now say that we have partnered with corporate and small business owners in every Province from coast to coast,” said Rathwell.

“We have embarked on this project to help raise awareness on the capabilities of electric vehicles as efficient and exciting vehicles to drive.”

The company’s objectives are not only to reduce carbon emissions but to show the world how renewable energies combined with sustainable forms of transportation can be the stimulus for the next industrial revolution.

Adds Rathwell, “We are educating Canadians on the advantages of electric vehicles and demonstrating how the adoption of electric vehicles will allow Canada to reduce their carbon emissions. We hope other nations will adopt similar strategies on electrified transportation.”

Electric vehicles are key to empowering economies at regional levels without new taxes or carbon penalties, added Rathwell.

Charging infrastructure has always prevented the EV industry from moving forward around the world, notes the company. Its first 13 month goal was to eliminate this problem once and for all, by installing charging stations across Canada in one year.

“With the help of leading businesses and municipalities who put their money where their mouth is, Canada is now a world leader,” said Rathwell.

For those who complain about vehicle repair and fuel costs, they should look at the emerging electric vehicles as do government and commercial vehicle fleet managers across Canada, who are becoming very excited about the potential savings associated with electric vehicles, notes the company.

Fleet managers take a “total cost of ownership” (TCO) approach to looking at a vehicle purchase. Over a typical 8 year life cycle, certain EV models come out way ahead of internal combustion engine versions.

“This initiative will clear-up almost all misconceptions of electric vehicles. It may also address climate change issues quickly as electric vehicles can create immediate positive results for Canadian families, businesses and municipalities,” concluded Rathwell.

The cross country journey ends at 2:30 pm Friday, December 21 at the Parliament Building in Victoria, B.C.

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