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Many supporters of the fight against climate change feel that switching to a zero-emission vehicle is the right thing to do, yet so far, they haven’t. In most cases two things hold them back: worries about the complexity of operating it, and a high price tag.

After driving one for more than a year now, including during a Montreal winter, I can testify that operating a fully electric car is easy enough.

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Before we switched, my family and I had quite a few concerns. How were we going to charge it? We live in a crowded Montreal neighbourhood with no private parking, so we can’t install a private charging station. Would the range of the vehicle be sufficient? And what about the winter? How would the car perform in extreme weather conditions?

None of those things turned out to be a problem. Charging an electric vehicle (EV) is easy in Montreal.In fact, there are more than 2,000 Hydro-Québec public charging stations and 1,000 private ones in Quebec, and the network is expanding rapidly. Many companies install one on their premises for their employees. For those who do have private parking at home, up to $600 of the installation costs are reimbursed by the province.