Would you buy a Canadian-built electric car?

A government official says Magna International Inc. is pairing with the Ontario government to invest more than $400 million to research and develop electric vehicle technology. The province is expected to put forward about $48 million for the project with the plan to create more than 700 jobs.

Electric cars are still a relative rarity on the road, partially due to the cost of producing them - particularly their batteries. Battery costs are roughly 10 times the cost of an internal combustion engine.

At a panel discussion last September, Magna E-Car Systems' vice-president of electric vehicle production Dave Pascoe said "volume helps, but there still is a need for new technology in the battery area in order to bring the cost down."

Canadian development of electric vehicle technology has slowly been growing, however. Earlier this month Toyota announced that their electric sport utility vehicle, the RAV4, will be manufactured in Woodstock, Ont.

(This survey is not scientific. Results are based on readers' responses.)