The future of technology hit the roads in Swift Current yesterday afternoon to celebrate the 6th annual National Drive Electric Week.

The cars (mostly Tesla’s) were on display at Kal-Tire to help raise awareness to residents in Swift Current and the surrounding southwest about the plug-in cars and the positive benefits they have on the environment.

“I think as people get to learn what electric vehicles are about, and the carbon footprint about it. They will understand the importance of the electrical vehicle market means,” said city team captain for the inaugural event Reid Foster.

With southwest Saskatchewan employing numerous people in the oil field, you would think this is a bad idea for the big oil companies.

“There are other companies out there right now that are working on products that would be beneficial to oil industries, helping them with efficiency and economy in their own vehicles,” Foster said.

Another obstacle they have had to overcome is plug-in stations. There are multiple charging stations in the southwest, one in Shaunavon and one that was installed in Swift Current by Sun Country.

The ultimate question is, can these cars withstand the harsh Canadian winters?

“About four years ago we took this car (the Tesla Roadster) across Canada in the dead of winter to prove in fastest car made in California, that we could do it in the harshest climates,” VP of Technology for Sun Country Highway James Dennis said. “We drove from P.E.I. all the way to Vancouver Island, so you can do it in a Roadster, which has less range than a (Tesla) Model S.”

Foster and Dennis were amazed at the turnout by the residents of Swift Current and the southwest, and hope to be back next year to spread even more knowledge about plug-in cars.