Is Canada ready for far more ZEVs?

• Mandate coming for dealerships to sell more zero-emission vehicles
• Infrastructure for electric vehicles needs work
• Creating batteries will take time

The Federal government is set to push car dealerships to sell far more zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), starting next year, but a local dealer has his doubts.

And even a local electric vehicle owner admits there is much more to be done in terms of charging infrastructure.

Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he wants a national mandate that would force auto dealers to sell a certain number of electric vehicles to be in place by the end of next year.

The federal government also wants half of all new passenger cars sold in Canada to be zero−emission vehicles by 2030, and reach 100 per cent by 2035.

B.C. has even more ambitious shorter-term goals: 26 per cent of new light duty vehicles ZEV by 2026 and 90 per cent by 2030.

While the mandate would be a major step in combatting climate change, is the goal realistic?

Supply concerns

Outgoing president of the Kelowna Auto Dealers Association, and general manager of Kelowna Toyota, Jamie Kaban, says there are two main constraints to the proposed mandate.

“Dealerships can only sell what they have, number one. So whatever is manufactured is what we can sell, and right now we sell every single hybrid, every single electric, everything that we have, and in fact in a lot of cases there’s wait lists on a lot of stuff,” Kaban said.

He added that if the vehicles aren’t produced, then putting the pressure on dealerships won’t really have any effect because they can only get so many vehicles from manufacturers.

“The other flip side of it is really affordability,” Kaban said.

He said that there’s a very big group of people that want to buy electric, that can afford to buy electric, but there’s also a big part of the consumer pool that would frankly be unable to afford it.

Kaban added there is a massive increase of battery production needed.

“The amount of battery plants that needs to be built, the amount of materials that are going to be needed for those battery plants, it needs to be a massive undertaking,” Kaban said.

“And the reality is, where it’s at right now, that undertaking just isn’t happening enough.”

Kaban said that the government is going to have to put more money into subsidizing a lot of the vehicles. He added that if they don’t do that, then a lot of people aren't going to be able to afford it, and less vehicles will be sold.

Transport Canada is topping up its electric vehicle rebate program so there is enough money to cover demand until the program gets retooled in the spring.

The fall economic statement this week budgets another $73 million to the Incentives for Zero Emission Vehicles program, bringing the total budgeted since 2019 to almost $660 million.

The Liberals promised to spend another $1.5 billion on the rebates over the next four years.

Much more work to be done

Mario Leblanc, an early adopter of zero emission vehicles, recently purchased a 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E.

“With the environment, with the carbon footprint, I think it’s not just a phase that people are getting into because you can see all the companies have followed suit, [and] a lot of companies are coming out with their own model,” Leblanc said.

Leblanc said there is still work to be done, and that the dilemma of the different charging stations overwhelmed him at first, noting different makes use different charging systems and connections.

“Even myself, you have range anxiety, but it’s a matter of working around it and it wouldn’t be any different than when the first combustion engine came out,” he added.

Leblanc recommends people do their research to know what they’re getting into with electric vehicles.

“The more you read, the more you get educated, the more you get to use your car the way it’s meant to be used.”

With files from The Canadian Press.