When Eric Wortley became the new owner of an electric vehicle, the Amherstburg, Ont. resident never planned on documenting what it’s like on social media.
But as Windsor’s auto sector started moving toward electrification, he noticed more of his friends debating the pros and cons of EVs over social media.
“When I got my Tesla, [I decided] to just document everything,” he said. “Show everyone the good, the bad, the ugly — and let people make their own opinions on it.”
Like many others in recent months, Wortley considered going electric for his next vehicle due to rising gas prices. He bought a Jeep Gladiator last year but noticed fuel was starting to cost more than the payments for the truck itself.
In February, Wortley made the switch and bought a fully-electric, pre-owned Tesla vehicle.
He’s also started providing occasional updates on his social media, sharing details such as charging time, distance travelled and money saved compared to driving a gas-powered vehicle.
So far, Wortley’s experience with his electric vehicle has been positive. The biggest benefit, he said, is being able to charge his vehicle overnight at home, eliminating the need for him to stop at gas stations. On the rare occasion, Wortley added, he may plug his EV in at the charging stations at Devonshire Mall.
In one of his social media updates, Wortley recalls a recent drive to Point Pelee which cost him virtually nothing in terms of fuel because the area has free EV charging stations.
From his home to Point Pelee, the distance is about 120 kilometres. Wortley estimates the same drive in his former pickup truck would have cost him about $35 just in gas.
Wortley said he mainly charges his EV at home and rarely plugs into a supercharger, which allows for faster charging at a premium rate. But despite the extra cost, Wortley said it still works out cheaper than filling up a gas-powered vehicle at current prices.
“To plug in and charge at home, it’s $10 a week. If I go to a supercharger, which I did a couple days ago, it still only cost me $18 to charge it from 15 per cent.
While charging his electric vehicle at the mall, Wortley said he paid just a few dollars to increase the charge on his EV battery by about 30 per cent. It took him about two hours, but Wortley said the cost savings is worth it.
“I went shopping. I worked out at the gym,” said Wortley on what he did while his EV was charging at the mall. “I don’t have to worry about having to fill up now. It’s pennies, whereas if I wanted to fill up to drive to Amherstburg, 20 bucks is down the drain.”
Peter Hatges, national automotive sector leader for KPMG Canada, says the extra time needed to charge an electric vehicle can be an issue for some drivers who quickly need to get from place-to-place. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)
But according to Peter Hatges, national automotive sector leader for KPMG Canada, the extra time it takes for electric vehicles to charge can be an issue for drivers who are very busy or often travel long distances.
“In our surveys and the polls that we’ve done across Canada, most Canadians expect to go and refuel a car in about five to seven minutes. That’s how long it takes for you to go to the gas station. It can take 10 minutes if you’re waiting in line for coffee, but that’s about it,” said Hatges.
In comparison, Hatges said it can take 45 minutes for an electric vehicle to increase the charge in an electric vehicle battery by 80 per cent, even when plugged into a supercharger.
“I think the range anxiety really impacts people that use the vehicles like we do in North America,” he said.
“People aren’t thinking about when and where to charge the battery. They’re thinking about what they got to do next and if they have to travel a long distance,” Hatges added. “That is going to be an impediment to the widespread adoption of electric cars, at least for now.”
But for early adopters like Wortley, the extra wait isn’t too much of an issue for him. On long drives, he said 45 minutes gives him enough to stop for a bathroom break, sit down for a meal and stretch his legs out
Searching for an EV charger isn’t a problem for Wortley either. That’s because his in-car GPS will show him where to find superchargers along his route, after he enters his destination on the centre console.
Take a look at the tweet below to see that feature in action:
Wortley also addressed concerns he’s received from others on his social media updates regarding the battery’s total lifespan and the financial ramifications that could arise if it fails altogether. Wortley said his warranty fully covers any fixes needed to the battery and allows for a full replacement if its total capacity falls below 70 per cent.
But the warranty does not apply if the vehicle has been driven for eight years or has amassed 160,000 kilometres.
Jon Stewart blasted the media for covering the “banal” details of former President Trump’s first of four criminal trials, which began with opening statements Monday following a week of jury selection.
In his Monday night broadcast of “The Daily Show,” Stewart poked fun at the TV news media for tracking Trump’s traffic route from Trump Tower to the courtroom, compiling footage from various outlets, as they tracked each turn his car made.
“Seriously, are we going to follow this guy to court every f‑‑‑ing day? Are you trying to make this O.J. [Simpson]? It’s not a chase. He’s commuting,” Stewart said. “So the media’s first attempt — the very first attempt on the first day — at self-control failed.”
Media outlets have closely covered Trump in recent days, as he makes history as the first U.S. president to stand trial on criminal charges. Trump is also the presumptive GOP nominee for president this year.
Trump currently faces 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records in connection to reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 ahead of the 2016 election to stay quiet about an alleged affair she had with the former president a decade prior. It is the first of four criminal trials Trump will face, and perhaps the only one that will go to a jury before the November election.
Stewart, in his broadcast, took aim at TV news outlets, suggesting they were covering small news alerts as significant breaking news developments.
Stewart pretended a producer was talking in his earpiece and paused midsentence, saying, “Hold on. We’re getting breaking news,” and cut to a clip from an earlier interview conducted by CNN’s Jake Tapper, who similarly cut off his guest momentarily to identify a photo displayed on screen to his audience.
“I’m sorry to interrupt. Just for one second. I apologize,” Tapper said in the clip. “We’re just showing the first image of Donald Trump from inside the courtroom. It’s a still photograph that we’re showing there. Just want to make sure our viewers know what they’re looking at.”
Stewart shot back, saying, “Yes, for our viewers who are just waking up from a 30-year coma, this is what Donald Trump has looked like every day for the past 30 years. Same outfit.”
Stewart ripped CNN again for analyzing the courtroom sketches so closely, saying, “It’s a sketch. Why would anyone analyze a sketch like it was — it’d be like looking at the Last Supper and going, ‘Why do you think Jesus looks so sad here? What do you think? It’s because of Judas?’”
“Look, at some point in this trial, something important and revelatory is going to happen,” Stewart said. “But none of us are going to notice, because of the hours spent on his speculative facial ticks. If the media tries to make us feel like the most mundane bullshit is earth-shattering, we won’t believe you when it’s really interesting.”
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‘This year will be the first time that we’ll see a global ad spend of over a trillion’ U.S. dollars, says Charles Etienne Morier
Published Apr 23, 2024 • Last updated 26 minutes ago • 5 minute read
Like their partners in the Canadian news industry, the country’s media agencies are undergoing unprecedented transformation. The National Post is holding conversations with leaders of Canada’s largest agencies on the fast-changing fundamentals. This week, Charles Etienne Morier, chief operating officer of Touché! & Omnicom Media Group Montreal, speaks to writer Rebecca Harris.
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It has dramatically changed with technological advancement and shifts in consumer behaviour. Now, more than 80% of digital ad spend is transacted through digital buying platforms, so it has become increasingly important for our workforce to have a good understanding of the algorithms and how to maximize them.
The process has changed also. It’s no longer about creating a 30-second spot and then selecting a media channel to distribute the message. We start with the audiences, the channels where we need to reach them, and then tailor a message that will be appealing. And so, we need to work even more closely with our creative partners.
And we think 2024 will change even more. It’s going to be an inflection point despite all the changes we have gone through over the last three years. This year will be the first time that we’ll see a global ad spend of over a trillion (U.S. dollars). It shows the responsibility that we have as advertisers and agencies to spend that money wisely and ensure we make every ad dollar count, and that we are engaging consumers in a way that speaks to them in an age where there’s a lot of uncertainty about how they share their data and private information.
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The team now needs to be proficient in so many areas. We used to have strategy, media buying and planning, and optimization and reporting. Now, we need to be able to help our clients navigate within this complex digital ecosystem with clean rooms (environments where brands, publishers and advertisers share data), the deprecation of cookies, and dynamic creative optimization. Our agency has changed dramatically in the sense that we offer much more depth in our services now. So, our leaders need to be proficient in being able to discuss those subjects with clients. We have a strong learning system in place and it’s part of our value, to make sure that our teams stay curious because it’s changing so much by the day.
Brands that are breaking through are able to prioritize authenticity, relevance and creativity in their messaging and their approach to media. Consumers are bombarded with messages every day and there’s ad blocking, so we have to find new ways of capturing consumer attention… We need to make ads relevant to consumers and bring more value into their lives. And leverage the data we have at our disposal to tailor the message to specific audience segments and engage the consumer in multiple touchpoints.
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We’ve been working for almost two years on educating our clients, making sure that they are prepared. So, we are doing assessments to make sure we have everything in place to prepare for the impact of the deprecation of cookies. It will change a lot for measurement because we will not be able to measure the same things the same way. We will not be able to target in the same way. But I see it as an opportunity somewhat, to be able to come back to (advertising) that is more creative and more around content and context… and more in relation to targeting the right people in the right moment instead of relying too much on the data.
Retail media (platforms that allow retailers to sell ads to brands) will be expanding. Now, the stat is one in five dollars will be spent in retail media globally and 20 per cent of the commerce ecosystem will be done online. So, it’s going to be more important to have a strong omnichannel approach and deliver a positive consumer experience.
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There’s also social commerce… There are so many influencers – there are 50 million creators globally. So how, as an agency, we’re able to harness that and power that at scale is crucial, and how we can partner with creators effectively. It’s changing a lot in media planning on that front. There is a real shift from curation to generation of content.
Television as well is changing a lot, from linear to connected TV. There is a streaming war at the moment, so we need to create new standards, overcome walled gardens (where the platform provider controls the content and data) and figure out measurement.
And obviously automation will play a bigger role. The way I see it is (artificial intelligence) will bring more value to what we do to bring smarter, faster and more effective work. For me, it’s not just about AI itself. It’s more about connected intelligence with the human at the centre of it. So, it’s how we can use the tool to amplify what we are doing.
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