|
Poorly conceived and executed from the start, Canada’s zero-emission vehicle mandate is about to be dealt a crippling blow.
The federal Liberals had mandated that by 2035, 100 per cent of new vehicles sold in Canada were to be zero emissions — either battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell or some other technology still to be invented.
On Tuesday, the Global Automakers of Canada, representing foreign carmakers operating in Canada, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, representing the Detroit Three carmakers in Canada and the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association called on the federal government to scrap its mandate.
Advertisement
Citing insufficient build-up of EV infrastructure, such as charging stations, as well as the Jan. 12 pause to the federal iZEV incentives, which offered up to $5,000 on the purchase of a new zero-emission or partially zero-emission vehicle, the three organizations said the coming mandates would be “a disaster for consumers, dealers, manufacturers and the Canadian economy.”
The organizations may get their wish, albeit not courtesy of the governing Liberals: since December, the bulk of opposition parties have been spoiling for a non-confidence vote, something likely to have happened by now if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s request to prorogue parliament until March 24 hadn’t been granted by Gov. Gen. Mary Simon. Polls suggest a Conservative landslide in the expected early election.
That prorogation also means any spending bills that could have moved the transition forward will either die on the table or not be moved at all.
The switch to electric, or at least zero-emissions, is inevitable. Globally, the auto sector has invested more than US$1.2 trillion in EVs, batteries, fuel cells, battery recycling and related technologies to move away from fossil fuel-powered mobility. That train isn’t stopping, but it’s not arriving in the next 10 years.
Forcing consumers to like electric vehicles is akin to pushing on a string. The government can mandate that only EVs be sold, but it can’t mandate they be purchased. Consumers have to come around on their own, and that only happens when objections fall.
Distilled down to its essence, a vehicle means freedom, and the infrastructure to support fossil fuel-powered vehicles is ubiquitous enough Canadians can pretty much drive anywhere they want confident they will get where they’re going.
EVs will satisfy 95 per cent of the needs of 95 per cent of Canadian drivers, but it’s that five per cent — road trips — that consumers focus on. If you don’t plan a road trip appropriately, you’ll be stuck without juice. Now, those who advocate for EVs will tell you, correctly, that worries about charging are overblown: if you don’t leave town, your EV may get by with charging just once or twice a week at home. However, a jaunt down to Minneapolis for a Jets/Wild game is a bit trickier.
The 2025 Toyota BZ4X XLE is not available in Manitoba. (Toyota)
Another key objection is price: Toyota’s excellent EV, the BZ4X, if you live in a province where you can get one (hint: not in Manitoba), starts at more than $53,000. Toyota’s similarly excellent gas-powered RAV4 starts at $36,000. Chevrolet’s Equinox EV and gas-powered Equinox have a similar price difference, meaning it would take more than seven years in fuel savings to make up the $17,000 spread, not counting the cost of electricity.
The 2024 Chevy Equinox EV has a similar price difference compared with the gas-powered Equinox model. (Chevrolet)
I already mentioned the effect the election of Donald Trump will mean to EV sales in the U.S. Now, it appears the federal government has given us our own made-in-Canada program failure.
|
