The rising cost of gas is expected to having wide ranging impacts in the Okanagan.
With gas prices hovering around the $2-mark in Kelowna, some car buyers are now thinking electric.
“In the last few years we have already seen a bit of a shift to electrified vehicles whether it be a hybrid, plug-in hybrid or fully electric,” said Jamie Kaban, general manager of Kelowna Toyota.
“With the increase in gas prices we’ve just seen an even further shift. There (are) a lot of people that are coming in and asking for hybrids right off the bat.”
However, with supply chain challenges causing shortages of many types of vehicles, there can be a wait time to get into an electric ride.
“The biggest problem with this increase in demand and hybrids, there is not a huge increase in production just yet,” Kaban said.
Kaban said Toyota has also faced challenges getting batteries for hybrid vehicles.
“So as much as we would love to get the vehicles out to the customers, the supply just isn’t quite there yet, Kaban said.
Meanwhile, at the Central Okanagan Food Bank, the rising costs of everything from food to fuel are translating into increased demand for its services.
“What we are seeing right now is people are being really impacted by the cost of inflation, the gas prices and also the food prices as well … What we are hearing from our clients and from people is it is a real struggle right now to actually put food on the table,” said Trevor Moss, chief executive officer of the Central Okanagan Food Bank.
The food bank wants to make it clear: if you are struggling, it’s here to help.
“Some people out there feel like ‘I don’t feel like I should (contact the food bank),’ maybe there is a stigma around it,” Moss said. “We just want to say, if someone is struggling right now … we are just asking them to call us and we would gladly take care of them.”
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