Automotive News Canada - September 2016 - 4

* SEPTEMBER 2016

Odd
EVEN

Retailer bucks convention and
wants to sell electric cars from
every brand, online, and soon

N f
Newfoundland
dl d E
EV
V reseller
l
ll
John
J h Gordon
G
says that the EVEN Electric business
plan is more of a retail concept rather
than a dealership model.

By ROBERT BOSTELAAR
O T TAWA C O R R E S P O N D E N T

OTTAWA, ONT. - A NEW CANADIAN
electric-vehicle retailer is gaining worldwide attention even though it has yet to
open its first store.
EVEN Electric chose Ottawa's annual
EV Day Aug. 18 to unveil a business plan
where customers would select a vehicle from display screens showing multiple brands at a boutique outlet, and then
pick it up at a regional distribution centre or have it delivered to the customer's
driveway.
The strategy, says EVEN chief executive and long-time entrepreneur Mike
Elwood, is aimed at younger buyers
comfortable with ordering off their
iPads and not interested in making the

EVEN stores will open in Canada,
Czech Republic and Sweden, selling
multiple brands under one roof.
dealership-to-dealership trek of traditional car shopping.
"The dealership model is the model
that we're moving away from. It's more
of a retail concept," Elwood, who formed

EVEN with Iceland businessman Gisli
Gislason and Newfoundland EV reseller
John Gordon, said in an interview.
Gordon's Green Rock E.V.S. outlet
outside St. John's, Nfld., is expected to
become the first EVEN store, followed by
a Halifax location, Elwood said. As well,
EVEN has deals pending to licence outlets in the Czech Republic and Sweden
and wants to open in Panama in 2017.
While the bold plan made headlines on numerous technology and
green-transportation news sites, it still
must win over manufacturers that, in
North America at least, frown on multibrand outlets and would be reluctant to
send product to a new retailer competing
with their franchised dealers.
Elwood said the company expects to
sell electric vehicles from China's BYD

Auto Co., Karma Automotive (which
took over bankrupt Fisker) and Faraday
Future in markets where they have been
approved by regulators.
Similarly, "I can tell you that markets
where Tesla does not market its vehicles,
we'll be able to, probably, move some of
the Tesla vehicles."
Elwood said EVEN is self-financed
and is not immediately seeking outside
investors.
He did not give details on the company's funding but said the business model
is less capital-intensive than traditional auto retailing where dealers pay for
inventory.
Unlike many U.S. states, Canada does
not have laws prohibiting manufacturers from selling vehicles to consumers
directly or through distributors. - ANC

Asbestos kills, but it's still allowed in Canadian brake parts
"We have seen the
effect of asbestos
exposure first hand on
mechanics and auto
trades people," says a
non-asbestos brakepad maker who wants
Canadian laws changed
By BILL McLAUCHLAN
TORONTO CORRESPENDENT

SOMETHING IS GETTING UP
Rick Jamieson's nose and he
wants it to stop.
In 2016 there are still brake
pads being imported and sold
in Canada that contain asbestos, because unlike in the United
States asbestos still is not
banned in Canada.
It's a growing problem, says
Jamieson, president, CEO and
co-founder of Guelph, Ont.-based
ABS Friction, the only brake-pad
manufacturer left in a region
once the Canadian heart of the

automotive aftermarket.
"Imports of asbestos-related
items rose to $6 million in 2014
from $4.9 million in 2013," he said
in an interview with Automotive
News Canada. "The bulk of these
goods consisted of asbestos brake
linings and pads, which hit $3.6
million in imports, a seven-year
high," he noted in launching his
ABS Asbestos Offensive campaign www.absfriction.com/
asbestosoffensive. It's aimed at
creating awareness in the industry where asbestos is still common in imported brake pads
and poses lethal hazard for shop
technicians.

LONG-TERM EFFECTS
Asbestos is the top on-the-job
killer in Canada, accounting for
almost 5,000 deaths since 1996,
according to Statistics Canada.
But that doesn't reflect the true
figures; it might take 20-50 years
after exposure to become affected.
"We have seen the effect of
asbestos exposure first hand on

Rick Jamieson is concerned
that Canada will become a
dumping ground for cheap
and unsafe asbestos brake
imports.
mechanics and auto-trades people," said Joe Schmidt, director
of research and development and
co-founder of ABS Friction. As
a Canadian manufacturer that
has made asbestos-free brake
pads since its beginning 20 years
ago, "it's time to put this issue
to bed."
The problem isn't one
Jamieson has just latched onto.
It has been a concern for the
last six years in the course
of which Jamieson has been
working with his federal member of Parliament (MP), member of provincial Parliament
(MPP) and with the Automotive
Aftermarket Retailers of Ontario
(AARO) and others, to create legislation to ban it once and for all.
Despite Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau's earlier statement to ban asbestos, that
hasn't happened. Asked for an
update, neither Health Canada
nor Environment and Climate
Change ministries responded
with comment on if or when legislative changes are planned.

CONTENTS NOT DISCLOSED
ABS Friction has never used asbestos in its brake pads,
instead using alternate, more expensive materials.
(PHOTOS: ABS FRICTION)

In the past, asbestos was used
in brake components because
of its heat tolerance and noise

mitigation characteristics. But
domestic manufacturers like
ABS Friction don't use asbestos because of its toxicity, relying instead on more expensive alternative raw materials.
Meanwhile, foreign imports of
brake parts containing asbestos
and other composite materials
are still being allowed into the
country with no regulatory-required labeling to indicate their
hazardous content.
This makes it is difficult to
determine exactly what goes into
them, and means service shop
owners, vehicle technicians,
consumers and even recyclers of
the roughly 1.6 million Canadian
vehicles reaching end-of-life
stage each year might unwittingly come in contact with materials containing asbestos, said
Schmidt.
Jamieson feels many shop
owners believe asbestos to be
bad but "don't believe it's found
in brake sets" they buy, sell and
install. Insufficient care is taken
during the service/replacement
process, he says. Technicians
might remove their mask, use
air hoses to blow off accumulated brake dust, and disperse
it into the immediate environment to be breathed in, settled
on nearby surfaces or attached
to clothing and taken home to
expose family members.
With the U.S. ban on asbestos
use, Jamieson worries Canada
could become a dumping ground
for cheap asbestos brake imports.
Meanwhile he hopes the ABS
Asbestos Offensive will raise
awareness and clear the way for
a stop to importation of asbestos-laced brake pads. - ANC

ASBESTOS FACTS
Q Canada

has imported more
than $100 million in asbestos
brake pads and linings in the
past decade, at an average
cost of $100, enough for one
million sets.
Q In total, more than $250 million in imports of asbestos and asbestos-containing
products entered the country
between 2004 and 2014.
Q Though asbestos mining here
stopped in 2011, Canada
continues to allow imports
and exports of asbestos,
unlike some 58 other countries such as Australia,
Japan, Sweden and Britain,
which have imposed a ban.
Q Concentrations of asbestos in
brake pads can range from 30
to 80 per cent.
Q The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency reports
dust found in shops and
garages contained between
2.26 and 63.8 per cent
asbestos. It also found significant amounts of asbestos
in six out of nine brake jobs
examined.
Q Also, according to the EPA,
asbestos fibres tend to linger
in the air long after a job is
done and can spread almost
23 metres from the work
area.
Sources: Statistics Canada, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
autoservicecosts.com and
www.asbestos.com

http://www.absfriction.com/ http://www.autoservicecosts.com http://www.asbestos.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Automotive News Canada - September 2016