If you’re on the fence about switching to an electric vehicle, you might want to take some advice from those who have been where you are now. As these EV adopters across Canada enthusiastically attest, once you go electric, you’ll never go back to an internal combustion engine (ICE).

“I love my electric SUV,” says Harvey Soicher, 67, a Vancouver retiree. His journey began a few years ago when he bought his 2019 Audi e-tron 55 quattro. Shortly after, he hit the road for a coast-to-coast road trip from Vancouver to Newfoundland, dubbed “Mary Ann’s Electric Drive,” in memory of his late wife. The adventure took 63 days and spanned more than 22,000 kilometres, but Soicher never suffered range anxiety along the way. “I made it all the way to Newfoundland without getting stuck,” he says. “And if I went on that same trip now, it wouldn’t be a challenge at all because there are high-speed chargers everywhere now.” Better still, the cost of charging his electric Audi was only $400 for the entire roundtrip, a fraction of the estimated $3,000 in fuel that an ICE-powered vehicle would have consumed.

“The way the Audi e-tron drives just blew away my expectations of how good a car can be,” says Soicher. “The handling is incredible and the power is instant,” he adds.

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Vincent Lam, a Toronto-based eye surgeon who also owns a 2019 Audi e-tron 55 quattro SUV, agrees. “One hundred per cent, I’d never go back to an internal combustion engine,” he says. Lam switched to an electric vehicle for environmental reasons and, like Soicher, he was pleasantly surprised by its performance. “In terms of pickup, it’s pretty incredible,” he says. “Electric vehicles are known for acceleration from a standstill and I really appreciate it. It definitely performs.” In addition to his Audi e-tron 55 quattro’s exceptional acceleration, Lam also loves the futuristic sound the vehicle makes. “You get some looks because the e-tron sounds like a spaceship as it drives,” Lam says. “That’s a good thing, because since EVs are silent, and you want pedestrians to be aware of their surroundings,” he adds.

Back in Vancouver, Raj Johal, the owner of a commercial cleaning business, has been enjoying getting to know his new 2021 Audi e-tron Sportback. He switched to an EV to cut down on the fuel bills for his company vehicle, but he also appreciates the savings that result from his EV’s low maintenance requirements. Complimentary 30-minute charging sessions for two years at Electrify Canada stations across Canada – a bonus included with the purchase of every new Audi e-tron – also helped sway his decision to buy a new Audi EV. “So many things surprised me – how smooth it is, how it drives, how the interior has been assembled and the detail Audi put into building the car,” says Johal. Like other early adopters, the ride and handling also exceeded his expectations. “It’s the best,” he says. “The performance behind the car is phenomenal, especially the instant power,” says Johal. “You can still have luxury and be green.” He, too, would never go back to an ICE-powered vehicle.

https://www.audi.ca/ca/web/en/models/e-tron-gt/e-tron-gt-family.html

Advertising feature produced by Globe Content Studio with Audi. The Globe’s editorial department was not involved.