In December I wrote to Jim Bradley, Ontario's Minister of Transportation, to advocate approval of the Zenn car on Ontario's roads. Strangely, although the all electric Zenn is manufactured in Canada, it has only recently received Federal permission to sell in this country--but only if it meets Provincial standards. To date, the only Province to approved the Zenn for sale has been British Columbia.
Today I received a reply from Susan Lo, Director of Safely at the Ministry of Transportation, expressing concern that Low Speed Vehicles (LSVs) such as the Zenn, are only legally required to meet 3 of 40 federally mandated safety standards. She feels, in the event of a crash, Low Speed Vehicles offer little in the way of occupant protection.
However, the Province now plans to evaluate the Zenn as part of Ontario's LSV pilot to help her get a better sense of where these vehicles should be allowed to operate and who should be allow to operate them. As a result, the Zenn will be allocated to provincial and municipal parks and conservation areas.
They may also be evaluated on college campuses, gated communities, military bases and other places where the Zenn would not share roads with larger and faster motor vehicles. The Zenn is designed to have a maximum speed of 40 km per hour.
Since the Pilot project began in 2006 and will not be complete until 2011, I wouldn't look for Zenns on Ontario roads in the near future.
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