This week on Down the Garden Path, we continue to explore ways we can have a positive impact on our environment with a discussion about electric cars with Tim Burrows. We enjoyed learning more about the topic and realize it is an important discussion to have. Change is coming but will be happening slowly.

Tim has owned and driven battery-electric cars for the past seven years and has logged over 250,000 kilometres without the need for gasoline or diesel fuel. He now enjoys sharing his EV experience with others and breaks down many myths and misconceptions about electric vehicle ownership.

Tim is a member of the Electric Vehicle Society, a non-profit organization that works to promote the understanding and adoption of electric mobility in Canada. In his role there, he chairs the EV Society's Mississauga Chapter.

Join us this week for our conversation with electric car enthusiast Tim Burrows.

Tim fielded a lot of questions from our radio audience in this popular episode and answered some of our own.

• What made you buy your first electric car?
• Electric cars have been around for a while; what are some new developments?
• What are some of the concerns and objections about electric cars (like the expense -- we can't all afford a Tesla).

Despite the high upfront cost involved in purchasing an electric car, there are many factors that contribute to you saving money in the long run. A lot of the concern seems to surround the batteries. Tim discusses the length of the charge, and how the cars actually work to conserve the energy they have in them. He also points out that you start with a full charge every morning.

• We learn about the issues surrounding the materials in the batteries: cobalt and lithium. Some of these concerns centre around the environmental and humanitarian factors impacted by those components.
• Electric car companies and other electronics companies like Apple are striving to find ways to remove cobalt from their batteries.
• We discuss how in Ontario and Canada our electricity is very "clean" energy and despite possible rate increases for electricity, the per km rate of electricity will still be on par or lower than what we are paying per litre for gas

Tim is an enthusiast in the electric car industry and has no affiliation with any company. You can check him out at TimTalksTesla.com

Join us next week for our final February podcast:

• February 28th: Micro Food Growing with Jennifer McGuinness

About Your Hosts

Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes.

As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade.

And Matthew Dressing is a horticulturist and landscape designer. He owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, Joanne and Matthew do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and helpful topics. Their goal is to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.