James Hart  – President

James Hart has been a proud member of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association since 2017, serving as the President of the association since 2022. With an automotive diploma and a lifelong passion for cars, James has always enjoyed the thrill of driving fast and exploring the latest innovations in the automotive industry.

Fascinated by the speed and silence of electric cars, James has been immersing himself in all things electric for over 10 years. He owns a Tesla Model X and a Nissan Leaf and previously enjoyed the experience of driving a Hyundai Kona Electric. In his spare time, James strives to test drive every new electric vehicle model he can get his hands on, always staying at the forefront of the EV industry.

Beyond his personal EV experiences, James is also known for hosting the popular podcast True North EV, where he shares insights on Canadian EVs and delves into his own experiences living with an electric vehicle. Through his podcast, James aims to educate and inspire listeners to embrace sustainable transportation solutions and make the switch to electric vehicles.

When he’s not behind the wheel or recording his podcast, James can be found exploring the scenic roads of Manitoba and enjoying the beauty of the great outdoors. With a vision for a greener future powered by electric vehicles, James remains dedicated to promoting the adoption of EVs and building a more sustainable transportation ecosystem for all.

Alix Cruickshank – Vice-President

Alix and her family have been driving electric since the end of 2017, in a fully electric 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, that as of late 2024 they have put over 130,000 km on.  In addition their 2nd family vehicle is currently a 2017 Volvo XC90 T8 (bought used in 2020), which is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Alix first became interested in EVs when her family was looking to purchase a new vehicle in 2017. After several test drives of any and all EV models they could find and many hours watching YouTube videos, the Bolt EV finally became available for purchase in Canada and Alix’s family bought one right away.  

As an Environmental Geoscientist Alix was instantly impressed with the potential environmental and economic benefits that EVs offered. This eventually led to Alix and her husband Jason forming the group SaskEV based in the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan area where Alix served as Secretary. Upon moving to Winnipeg in 2021, Alix wanted to continue to be involved with advocating for the adoption of EVs, providing education to the public, and socializing with other EV owners, thus she joined ManitobaEV. Alix was then elected Vice-president in 2022. 

Allison Mac Intyre – Secretary

Allison has been a member of ManitobaEV since 2016 and has held the role of Secretary within the association since October 2019. Allison joined ManitobaEV as a way to spend time with her dad, who was interested in learning more about EV conversions. Since joining, Allison has taken the knowledge she has learned from the EV community and has enjoyed dispelling myths, sharing facts, and checking out the latest and greatest EVs with her family. 

Outside of ManitobaEV, Allison is an environmentalist in both hobbies and in trade. Allison is passionate about making sustainability and climate action initiatives achievable to all on both large and small scales, from strategic planning at the institutional and governmental levels, to encouraging friends and family to take small actions day to day.

Formally, Allison works alongside the University of Manitoba’s Sustainability Office team as Zero Waste Coordinator and is trained as a TRUE Advisor with the US Green Building Council and a Zero Waste Associate with Zero Waste Canada. Encouraging behaviour change via education and outreach is at the core of Allison’s work with the U of M and ManitobaEV.

Jeff Bergal – Treasurer

Jeff first became interested in electric vehicles after watching an episode of the Rick Mercer Report on October 2, 2007. Rick Mercer presented a tour of the ZENN (zero emissions, no noise) factory in Quebec along with an introduction to ZENN’s fully electric “low speed vehicle” (LSV). He found ZENN’s LSV to be very intriguing, if not fully practical. He also considered ZENN’s progress to be an indication of better, more practical things to come.

Sure enough, a couple of years later Nissan introduced their fully electric LEAF and Chevy introduced their “serial hybrid” Volt. By 2012 gently used LEAFs were becoming available at very affordable prices. Jeff struggled for a bit with the limited range of the LEAF and the complete lack of charging infrastructure at the time in Manitoba, and the North American midwest in general. After due consideration and a complete re-alignment of his thought processes, Jeff came to the conclusion that the LEAF would be perfectly adequate as a daily driver. It just wasn’t going to be the appropriate machine to take him on the occasional highway trip. It was time to take the plunge.

Fast forward…..Jeff has been driving an EV (a few different LEAFs) since 2013. He’s logged about a quarter million EV kms during this time, he’s traversed 11 prairie winters and has never run out of “fuel”. The only time the gas sipping Yaris leaves the yard is to facilitate to occasional mid-winter trip to south Texas. The humble LEAF has long since paid for itself in fuel and maintenance savings, and he’ll never own another ICE vehicle as a daily driver.

Jeff joined ManitobaEV immediately after purchasing his first LEAF, wanting to learn about the EV experience from others who had gone down the path before him. He’s been serving as treasurer since first being elected in 2014.

Marc Beghin  – Member-at-large – Capital Region 

Member of the Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association since 2021, Marc is the Founder of EasyEV Inc., Manitoba’s first dedicated EV charger installation company, established in 2020.

Marc, through his efforts with EasyEV, has been responsible for helping many Manitobans from all corners of the province charge up their vehicles.  With over 100 installations of residential and commercial chargers since 2021, Marc and EasyEV has be instrumental to Manitoba electric vehicle adoption and the marketplace.  

An EV owner since 2014, Marc enjoys the drivability of electric vehicles and their positive economic impact they have on households and the community.

Volker Beckmann – Member-at-large – Northern Region 

Award winning graphic designer and branding specialist. Now retired. Volker has lived on 3 continents but northern Manitoba is his favourite place. Passionate CSIA Level 2 ski instructor who has skied from Japan to Switzerland. Active Chamber of Commerce member for over 50 years. He has received awards for volunteerism from his City, the Province, and Senate of Canada. Volker would love to own an EV, but cannot until there are adequate charging stations heading north/south in Manitoba. 

Curtis Wiebe – Member-at-large – Eastern Region 

Robert Elms – Past-President 

Internal-combustion engines exhaust 43% of the greenhouse gases emitted in Manitoba. Most of those GHGs come from cars, SUVs and pickups. Since 2011, Manitoba Electric Vehicle Association members have enjoyed driving (and, in some cases, making) EVs. Members have been proving that facilitating the electrification of transportation is the most cost-effective way for Manitoba to achieve the greatest reduction of its GHG emissions, in the shortest time. Robert has served on the manitobaEV Board since 2012, nine of those years as President.

The Manitoba Association of Automobile Clubs (MAAC), which includes manitobaEV, represents thousands of auto enthusiasts, throughout this province. In 2017, when MAAC representatives acclaimed Robert as their Chair, that was the first time in North America that the president of an electric vehicle association was chosen to lead a provincial or state association of auto clubs.

The Manitoba Sustainable Energy Association (ManSEA) promotes the generation, storage, transmission and use of environmentally-sustainable energy. From 2016-19, Robert served as a Director of ManSEA, including one year as Vice-Chair. 

A makerspace, now known as the North Forge Fabrication Lab, opened in Winnipeg in 2011. Within three years, it became North America’s most successful, member-operated, publicly-accessible, product-prototyping and business-startup facility. Robert served as the original Chair of its Member Council, stepping down after four years. Since then, he has continued community outreach on behalf of the Council, relishing opportunities to introduce people from across the province and around the world to Manitoba’s outstanding community of inventive entrepreneurs.

Accelerating the transition to environmentally-sustainable transportation is essential to maintain the economic success of this vast province. Recognizing that fact, Robert is eager to introduce more Manitobans to the numerous advantages offered by the most consequential advance in transportation in more than a century, the modern, emission-free, battery-electric vehicle.