Not only is greater Vancouver the only area of the country where one can currently lease Hyundai’s Tucson Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle, but the city itself is taking the aggressive step to stamp out all fossil fuel emissions within its borders. In Ontario, Premier Kathleen Wynne recently announced the introduction of an emissions-targeting cap-and-trade system, to align with similar systems in Quebec and California, which is expected to slightly raise the price of gas for Ontario motorists (estimated at 2–3.5 cents per litre in the province of Quebec).

These are just two examples of the increasing influence of so-called sub-national governments in fighting climate change, which increasingly affect not only what we pay at the pump with our current cars, but also the vehicles offered for sale in our city, province or country.

This push for emissions reductions contrasts with what is happening at the federal level in Canada. After failing to adhere to its binding emissions reduction commitments under the UN’s Kyoto Protocol, it became the first and only nation to formally remove itself from the international agreement a year before its 2012 extension, then arguing that it would align its targets with the U.S. A month after the U.S. announced in March it will aim for 26-28 percent GHG reductions by 2025, relative to 2005 levels, Stephen Harper confirmed that Canada would likely not meet (or aim for) the same targets, though was quoted in The Globe and Mail saying that “additional regulatory emissions reduction measures” were coming.

What those measures will look like is still unclear, though it seems very unlikely it will result in a carbon tax, which is what British Columbia implemented in 2008, or a gasoline tax, which both Vancouver and Montreal drivers pay at the pump. In Vancouver’s case, these measures have contributed to the highest per capita hybrid and EV ownership rates in the country, suggesting that even policies at the local government level can make a difference as to how and what vehicles consumers and businesses choose to buy.

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Other major international cities have also pledged to make major emissions reductions that could influence the driving fleet across continental Europe. In Paris, the mayors of 26 major European cities gathered last month to announce that they are forming a coordinated plan to reduce emissions, including increasing the use of electrified vehicles, as well as increased car and bike sharing. The mayors of Paris, Berlin, Madrid, London, Stockholm, Lisbon, Vienna, Amsterdam and 18 other cities pledged to work together to share information and best practices on various green car incentives, such as traffic-calming measures, prioritizing public transit, while reducing emissions from its buildings as well as its vehicles.

These European cities represent the interests of 60 million people, with combined public budgets and “investment capacity” estimated by the group at two trillion Euros combined. In a global car industry where there’s still a tug-of-war between fully electric vehicles, fuel cell cars, diesels, hybrids and plug-in hybrids to emerge as the dominant emissions-friendlier alternative to regular internal combustion engines, any common path taken by such a large block of countries could easily tilt the balance in favour of one or more of these technologies.

Think of the vehicles and fuel economy changes California’s block of 35 million people and its leaders were able to push through since the early 1970s, when the California Air Resources Board first seriously targeted smog and its associated health effects. With a population roughly equal to Canada’s now, but with a taste for pricier and more cars overall, California earned the right to set its own unique emissions targets separate from the national Environmental Protection Agency’s standards.

Which brings us back to Vancouver, and how it became one of the few jurisdictions outside California to lease the Hyundai Tucson Fuel Cell. Even though Ballard has largely sold its automotive fuel cell business to various automakers, the area is still a hotbed of fuel cell research, with Mercedes-Benz setting up a small production facility there as well. As such, it’s the only area in the country to offer modern 10,000 psi fuel cell storage tanks, which is what the Tucson FCEV uses. Ontario has at least one older 5,000 psi facility, said one source at Hyundai Canada, but that would mean that no Ontario driver could fill the Tucson FCEV’s tank to more than half full.

Plus BC’s recently re-introduced clean car rebate program added a new $6,000 incentive for fuel cells. This allowed Hyundai Canada to decrease the monthly lease payment from $599 to $529 and eliminate the $3,600 down payment formerly required. Plus, these drivers will receive free hydrogen and free scheduled maintenance over the course of the three-year lease.

So while the waiting game continues for whatever emissions reduction measures the federal government will implement, plus the closer but still unconfirmed details on Ontario’s announced cap-and-trade system, Vancouver’s city council voted in March to study ways to increase its renewable electricity use from 98 to a full 100 percent, plus joined a coalition of 10 international cities in targeting at least an 80 percent emissions reduction by 2050 (http://usdn.org/public/Carbon-Neutral-Cities.html).

With collaboration now going global between municipal, provincial and federal officials in many areas affecting future automotive technologies, the answer to what will be the next big thing in green cars may not lie in the traditional power emporiums of auto executive offices or even large industrial superpower governments, but increasingly the sub-national levels of government which are waking up to their considerable, often global, influence.

In upcoming State of Charge columns, electric vehicle owner and Canadian Green Car award organizer Michael Bettencourt will share tidbits of news and driving impressions from seat time in various plug-in, high-mileage and alternative fuel cars from a green car enthusiast’s perspective. Up first, he digs down into why BMW’s plug-in i3 may not be as efficient as possible, and provides some fuel-saving tips for all drivers.

Driving Notes: 2015 BMW i3

Max regeneration, efficiency tips (gas or electric) and missing neutral

One of the most noticeable driving traits of the futuristic BMW i3 is the aggressive regeneration as soon as you lift off the accelerator, which had my passenger’s head bobbing back and forth like I was a crazed student driver for my first 20 minutes driving BMW’s plug-in hatchback. But once you become used to what initially feels like continually driving in second gear, owners often profess a love of one-pedal driving, because the regen is strong enough to brake the car down to a full stop by simply lifting off the accelerator.

Even the brake lights come on if you lift off the throttle enough, and it doesn’t have to be a total lift – so yes, the brake lights can be on while you’re pushing only the accelerator.

But as I’ve learned in my Leaf, which has an Eco mode that also increases the regeneration levels significantly, to truly maximize how far one can travel on a charge, coasting in neutral is a better friend than heavy regeneration when it comes to maximizing efficiency and stretching one’s overall range.

Wait, but how can this be? If every Eco/Brake/EcoPlus mode offered on plug-in cars increases regeneration, and thus recaptures more braking energy, then it must give you more overall range when engaged, right? Well, not necessarily, because the extra retardation that comes with these modes must be “made up” by extra energy use when it’s time to get moving again.

The power recouped by regeneration is rarely (if ever) as substantial as that of the kinetic energy already propelling the car forward. Thus strong or extra regen is great when you’re coming up to a fresh red light or stopped traffic, or whenever there’s no way to avoid coming to a complete or near complete stop.

But just as it is in a regular gas car, keeping your eyes up and timing those lights by lifting off the throttle earlier so you never have to stop would be much more efficient. Unless you’re talking about long or steep mountain descents where you’d have to brake anyway, it would be more efficient to coast in neutral in any EV down a long hill and build up some momentum to help travel as far down the road or up the next hill as possible, without using further fuel.

This becomes an issue with the i3 is because you can’t select neutral while on the move, likely to protect the unique twistable gear selector from being shifted to nearby Park or Reverse. There is still a Neutral offered, available for drive-through car washes and such, but accessible only when stopped. Instead, the i3’s accelerator is supposed to have a “distinct ‘neutral’ position,” a middle point in which neither regeneration nor acceleration occurs. But after another recent but short drive of the i3, finding that position was difficult, if not near impossible, as owners have reported online as well.

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