Plug 'n Drive, a not-for-profit organization committed to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles will soon open the Electric Vehicle Discovery Centre (EVDC) in Toronto’s north end, at 1126 Finch Ave. West.
“Try to imagine Science-Centre-meets-car-showroom,” said Cara Clairman, Plug’n Drive’s founder and president.
Plug’n Drive is touting the EVDC as the first facility in the world to focus entirely on providing experiential learning about EVs and the EV movement.
Utilizing a one-stop-shop approach, visitors will be able to learn about relevant government programs (such as Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan), the environmental and economic cases for moving to electric-vehicle transportation, charging and other day-to-day logistics of owning and operating an EV.
Visitors will also be able to test drive EV models that are already on the market.
Automakers will be charged a fee for having their EVs on site and available for test drives, but there is no charge to visitors or for the referrals that dealers will receive from the centre.
Clairman says the number of test vehicles and participating automakers are still to be determined.
“The inside space can only hold so many, but we’ll take as many as we can get for outside.”
Clairman started Plug’n Drive seven years ago, after becoming aware of a gap in how consumers learned about EVs. She designed Plug’n Drive to fill that gap.
Plug’n Drive has held test drive and learning events in Ontario and in five other provinces.