BIG RACES CLOSE OFF autoCARS • TRUCKS • JOBBERS & trucking MARITIME RACING C-STORES • INSTALLERS • RECYCLERS SEASON IN BIG WAYS (STORY ON PAGE 38) CARWASHES • SERVICE STATIONS DEALERS • GARAGES • BODY SHOPS SEPTEMBER 2015 $4.95 KEEP ‘EM ROLLING SMOOTH (SEE PAGE 23) ELECTRIC VEHICLES: FEMALES NOW PUSHING PLUGGING INTO BARRIERS! (SEE PAGE 36) THE FUTURE WHY A PROFESSIONAL CAR WASH FACILITY? (SEE PAGE 54) WIN PRIZES!!! A BRAND NEW DIE-CAST CAT CT660 DUMP TRUCK OR A NAPA 126 PIECE TOOL SET! CROSSWORD GUESS & WIN DETAILS ON PAGES 61 AND 62! OWNED AND PUBLISHED BY ALFERS ADVERTISING & PUBLISHING INC. Publications Mail Sales Agreement Number: 40062985 auto & trucking scan & atlantic visit our online VOLUME FOURTEEN • ISSUE 5 • SEPTEMBER • 2015 hub! Page 6 PLUGGING INTO THE HALIFAX VEHI- CLE CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW – Call us toll-free: When industry stakeholders from across 1-866-423-3939 the continent gathered in Halifax last May. Fax us: 1-902-423-3354 Page 14 BIG RIG TRUCKERS ROLLIN’ IN FOR A E-mail us: SAFE DRIVE IN THE 2015 SPECIAL OLYM- [email protected] PICS TRUCK CONVOY – Big-hearted truck- ers sign on for the latest edition. Mail us: 51 Bethany Way Halifax, NS B3S 1H6 Page 16 THE ATLANTIC ROAD REPORT – Bridge memorializes Labrador vets. • More! Page 20 NEWS OF THE WEIRD – So what hap- pened when Chevy issued the world’s first ADVERTISING press release written entirely in Emoji? DIRECTORY: PAGE 60 Page 23 KEEP ‘EM ROLLING SMOOTH – While the PUBLISHER / OWNER future looks secure for e-vehicles, bear in Robert Alfers mind the features that will need servicing. [email protected] EDITOR Page 26 ELECTRIC AVENUE – Carter Hammett sur- Carter Hammett veys the landscape and gathers evidence [email protected] of the e-car’s slow but sure inevitable march forward into the marketplace. OFFICE MANAGER Page 30 BUYING A USED CAR CAN BE ELECTRIFYING – E-vehicles are already helping to cre- James Somers ate a new industry: the second hand vehicle with a twist, writes Kenneth E. Seaton [email protected] Page 34 ORGANIC LIQUID DE-ICING…Rust’s Miracle Grow – Wouldja believe one more bad Auto & Trucking Atlantic magazine is owned thing for the environment is that sketchy…beet juice??? We have a solution for that. and published bi-monthly by Robert Alfers of Alfers Advertising & Publishing Inc. For advertising rates or information regard- Page 36 FEMALE TESTDRIVE STUDENTS: PUSHING THROUGH SOCIAL BARRIERS – Women ing Auto & Trucking Atlantic magazine, please call or write to us at: 51 Bethany Way, Halifax, are starting to make inroads in fields traditionally-dominated by men. Nova Scotia B3S 1H6. Tel 902.423.6788 Fax 902.423.3354. BIG RACES CLOSE OFF MARITIME RACING SEASON IN BIG WAYS- Here’s Tim Terry Opinions expressed in Auto & Trucking Atlan- Page 38 tic do not necessarily reflect official policy of proactively offering the best tips to see another racing season off. Alfers Advertising & Publishing Inc. Printed and produced in Canada. Page 50 AXALTA SPONSORS SKILLS CANADA CAR PAINTING COMPETITION – Over 500 Member AIA Canada, CCA, AAIA, ATA and the AMA students have the event, um, covered, during a awareness –raising campaign. Page 52 YOU CAN’T CREATE THE FUTURE BY CLINGING TO THE PAST – Bob Greenwood calls out for car biz owners to let go of dated service approaches and move in synch. Page 54 THE RIGHT CARWASH – Jay LaRue weighs in on whether or not to wash your car at home or take it to the local carwash. Guess which side wins? Page 60 FIX AUTO SECURES $8.2 MILLION INVESTMENT TO FUEL GROWTH – A major achievement to accelerate development of an already-powerful network is secured. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40062985 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Page 61 WIN BIG! A 1:50 scale die-cast dump truck from Atlantic Cat, Alfers Advertising & Publishing Inc. 51 Bethany Page 62 or a NAPA 126 piece tool set in our 2 BIG contests!! Way, Halifax, NS B3S 1H6 september 2015 n autoatlantic.com 3 Letter from the Editor THE HACKABLE CAR By Carter Hammett the hackers breached the Jeep Cherokee’s worthy mechanic since a car’s diagnostic LTHOUGH THIS ISSUE OF Uconnect entertainment platform. connection is a pathway where malware Indeed, while self-parking and cruise can be installed to allow a remote hack. AUTO AND TRUCKING AT- control are pretty awesome features to There’s also a port underneath your dash ALANTIC CELEBRATES THE have in your vehicle, the risk of being on the driver’s side called the OBD-II. Be- EVOLUTION OF THE E-VEHICLE, hacked increases. As of now, that’s a fairly come familiar with it, especially visually. difficult scenario to picture, but theoreti- If it looks like it’s been subjected to foul THERE IS A STARK REALITY THAT cally if automakers standardize their soft- play, call your dealership immediately. ALSO NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED: ware, becoming more uniform in the pro- Other things that you can do include HACKING. cess, the risk of violation also theoretically not plugging unscreened devices into your increases. vehicle’s USB, including music. These can In response, the Ohio-based National help introduce malware which can in turn You read that right. Highway Traffic Safety Administration attack your car’s computer system. For all intents and purposes, your car (NHTSA) has been hard at work hack- Industry stakeholders can certainly is a smartphone on wheels and as such it’s ing into vehicles trying to stay ahead of contribute to the cause in numerous ways, vulnerable to hacking as demonstrated in the enemy, revealing in the process the including third-party testing and Internet- a recent Wired piece that sent the Internet multitude of ways your vehicle can be based security updates, similar to what into a tizzy after two ethical hackers re- attacked: locks, lights, horns, seat belts, your home computer receives. The latter motely bypassed security in a Jeep Cher- steering, engines are all up for grabs. Oh, idea seems to be catching on as Ford an- okee. Their actions affected everything did I mention that this can happen while nounced a switch to this system earlier from the brakes, steering, entertainment the car is in motion? this year. Paying hackers to share data system, air conditioning, windshield wip- Another element at risk of course, is ain’t exactly a bad idea either. They can ers and fans as the helpless driver sank consumer data privacy. Industry stake- shed light on security flaws and pocket into an accelerated state of frustration. holders are working on addressing this buckets o’ cash in the process. This scenario is yet another heads-up matter as well. E-vehicle security was certainly one to the industry that keeps adding Internet- So, while the pundits work diligently of the topics on the table at the seventh connected components such as naviga- trying to circumvent cyber attacks, what Electric Vehicle Conference and Trade tion, which are great for drivers but also can you do to lessen vulnerability of your Show back in May. With Halifax host- up the ante in terms of vehicle vulnerabili- vehicle? ing, cross-sector stakeholders from across ty. Fiat Chrysler issued a software fix, after For starters, it’s wise to engage a trust- North America came together to discuss everything from vehicle charg- ing to the latest developments in hybrid technology. A high- light of the event was a cross- country e-car race called the E-mazing Event, which show- cased vehicles in a traditional cross country race that ended in Vancouver. ATA staffer James Somers has done an admirable job of encapsulating the event includ- ing the importance that e-vehi- cles can have on the economy and the future of infrastructure as they begin to penetrate the Atlantic market. Although public acceptance is slowly growing, the popula- tion is also gradually starting to wake up to the potential these amazing machines can offer. E-vehicles have already proven they’re a viable alter- native to the dated concept of fossil fuels. It’s only a matter of time before they become a per- manent part of the landscape. 4 autoatlantic.com n september 2015 6 autoatlantic.com n september 2015 PLUGGING INTO THE HALIFAX ELECTRIC VEHICLE CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW By James Somers the ability of Electric cars to travel the distance from ALIFAX WAS THE HOST Halifax to Vancouver. “Innovation leading to improved battery perfor- OF THE SEVENTH ELEC- mance and infrastructure is an important factor con- HTRIC VEHICLE CONFER- tributing to increased EV adoption. These two factors, ENCE AND TRADE SHOW 2015 innovation and infrastructure, were also the theme of this year’s conference.” said EMC chair Catherine ORGANIZED BY ELECTRIC MO- Kargas. BILITY CANADA (EMC) FROM EMC’s website describe themselves as, “a national MAY 25-TO-27. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME THE not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promo- tion of electric mobility. The 140 members of EMC are EVENT HAS BEEN HELD IN THE MARITIMES. from different industry sectors across the country and include infrastructure, technology and electricity pro- In attendance were some of the Canadian lead- viders, electric vehicle manufacturers, fleet managers, ers in transportation electrification which included municipalities, universities, public transporters as well researchers, new technology developers, vehicle and as EV owners groupings.” charging station manufacturers, suppliers, fleet man- So what does all this mean? It means a gap still ex- agers, electric vehicle owners’ associations and stu- ists between the public who percives that there is still dents. a long way to go and supporters of the technology. This three-day event showcased many panels, The expectation on the negative side is that bat- presentations and keynotes outlining Canada’s cur- tery technology needs to be in a position where an rent status in Electric Vehicle (EV) technology, includ- electric vehicle can travel 500 kilometres with a five ing where the Atlantic region fits in that arena and, by minute charge time (the time it takes to fill a gas tank) studying the inroads made by other regions in North in a unit that costs the same as their gas powered America, how to increase the awareness and the in- cousin, let’s say like a Ford Fiesta for $14,000.