Like hundreds of thousands of British Columbians who head to work or the video store every day, Gordon English doesn't debate the planet-saving options of walking or bicycling a few kilometers .He reaches for his car keys. But Gordon's car is different. When he crosses the front yard, climbs into his red little two-seater and turns the ignition, the engine does not start. The quiet hum of a fan is just a bit louder than my heartbeat as he releases the hand-brake, flicks a dashboard toggle to "Forward" instead of "Reverse," and presses the accelerator. The car moves smartly off; still in total silence.

Its direct drive motor slows on the hills. Six horsepower motor is underpowered. "You have to drive it like a bike. Save energy for the important part - the hills." he explains as he navigates the hilly, winding island road into metropolitan Ganges.

But there is no incentive from governments - no insurance or tax breaks. In the US, at least a half-dozen states provide significant reductions in car registration costs.

"Electrical cars can do the same short-haul job of any gas vehicle." The perfect island or inter-urban vehicle for the short haul. Plenty of zip up to 35 mph - but English - who was a retired marketing consultant before he got bitten by the electric car bug - takes it to town, or back and forth to the golf course, where it's the envy of the golf cart set.

But it's not a golf cart. Little COMUTA-CAR car developed in Sebring, Florida. Of the 1,000 built, English says one or two are on Canada's west coast. This 1980 model has less than 5,000 miles on it - an indication of its practicality in the "real politic" of contemporary car travel. This 1,475 pound car does "maybe 20 miles" at 35 miles per hour. - not a golf cart: aircraft-grade aluminum, full roll cage, 40 miles of inexpensive driving at speeds up to 40 mph. 2-speed wipers, radio, heater-defroster.

Say goodbye to the engine, gas tank, muffler, exhaust system, radiator, catalytic converter, oil pan, hoses, filters, fanbelts. Maintenance involves checking the motor brushes for wear every 159,000 kilometers. Water the batteries every month.

Drive one at one-fifth the cost of a conventional car. Replacing all those heavy-duty six-volt batteries in a big electric car every two or three years wipes out most of the savings in gasoline, oil changes and maintenace bills. But again, those little golf-cart-size buggies come through with real savings. They only carry four 12-volt hardware-store batteries.

English is heading a two year "electric conversion".program for Environment Canada, in partnership with BC Hydro, BC Ministry of Environment, the Vancouver Island Advanced Technology Centre, Canadian Electric Vehicles, Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association. Starting in May, 1996, English has left a "demonstrator" electric car or truck for two or three weeks at 30 different Vancouver Island businesses, from the airport and university to hospitals, the parks departments, city works, the naval dockyard. The half-ton electric Nissan pickup could carry a 600 kilogram payload for 100 kilometers - and hit 140 kph in the passing lane. Electric vehicles hold their own with conventional cars - up to 90 kilometers range. Only one conversion order from William Head penitentiary: "Club Fed." The "snappy" 50km range Chevy Sprint enjoys "the same pep and performance" as conventional cars.

English is concerned with the feasible - with what we can do right now to replace the infernal combustion engines that are killing the planet.. "With today's technology it's quite possible to use an electric vehicle on a daily basis - provided you use it within the capabilities of the vehicle. There are many, many applications."

A 1992 BC Hydro study found that an electric car will take you more than five-times further than a gasoline-burner. About 2.4 kilograms of pollutants are emiited every day by each short-run internal combustion vehicle travelling a round-trip totalling 50 kilometers. This adds up to nearly a ton of pollutans emitted annually from each short-run internal combustion vehicle parked around you on Blanshard Street's perpetual gridlock - much more for older cars.

When costs and pollution involved in electric power production are added up, EVs are twice as efficient as ICVs. When the engine is free-wheeling while coasting downhill or to a stop, the generator reverts to its original purpose and generates power for the onboard batteries. Regeneration is the holy grail of electric vehicles. Right now, expensive Italian controllers used to regenerate power from regular electric motors (not generators) are prone to breakage.

Power plants burning fossil fuels do it more efficiently and emissions can be removed more completely than for individual gas-powered vehicles. Emissions from a limited number of power plants are more easily monitored and controlled than emissions from millions of vehicles. About 90% of all electric power in BC comes from hydro-electric power plants.

Batteries are the biggest bite in the alternative car budget. Good for three to five years, at which time a regular electric car or truck will need to recycle 24 six-volt batteries at a replacement cost of around $80 each.

"The economics are break-even." The savings on fuel, as well as the elimination of oil changes, anti-freeze, trips to the gas station, repairs and regular maintenance save the $2,000 cost of a new set of batteries.

Unlike the massive, full-size, luxury look-alikes with up to a dozen big 6-volt batteries that must be replaced every two or three years, Gordon's Florida-made "Comuta Car" runs on just two small 12-volt, "car":batteries. Its 40 kilometers range between six-hour recharges makes it an ideal vehicle running down to the ferry - or the store. (Quick-charge batteries can be back in full service within 20 to 40 minutes instead of overnight. But such rapid, high-heat, "cycling" could shorten battery life.)

Brown sludge in the air over Vancouver all the way up the Fraser Valley as we talked in a shady open-air cafe on Salt Spring."We've got to convert our thinking before we convert our cars," says English. "The big problem here is that people are not conditioned to this concept." Ads of cars climbing twisty mountain roads or flashing down the turnpike don't show the everyday applications of the family car - which is mostly used for running errands."We all talk about commuting, but nobody drives a commuting vehicle. We drive cars able to go to California and back."

Despite Canada's earnest Earth Summit pledges to reduce greenhouse emissions, "There is no sign of movement federally." Mo Sihota took a ride in an EV when he was Environment Minister - and was enthused.

Someday governments will realize that its cheaper to give consumers and corporations incentives to cut back on greenhouse emissions than to pay costs like disaster relief and health care down the road.

The enviros view "electrics" as just another excuse for the cars we have to get rid of. But something tells me that isn't going to happen real soon - probably not before this planet keels over from heat stroke and asphyxiation. What, pray tell, are we going to do while waiting for light rail, workable rapid transit - and some serious economic disincentives - to pry people out of their crushed-coal-burners? Paying $30,000 for an electric look-alike to a Caddie in order to drive 200 km between plug-ins (less if there's hills!) is not a huge seller right now. But the little $3,000 hummer that carries its grinning owner back and forth from the office and neighorhood mal is ideal - which is to say, ideal - for most readers who need four (or three) wheels instead of just two.

After cruising around in one, going back to my own greenhouse glazing, asthma-inducing gas-burner felt worse than ridiculous. Even plugged into a powerplant, the pollution-per-km numbers heavily favor whisper-quiet 'lectrics.

Little lightweight 'lectrics would blend very well with their bicycle brethren. These "cars" don't go very fast. And drivers have to be energy-aware enough to coast down hills - just like bikes. A workable, interim solution to Victori's growing grouchy gridlock. I don't know what comes after individual powered vehicles for moving the masses to and from work and video store (home computing, email videos-on-demand?) But I do know what could come next.