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Ottawa officially announced an abrupt pause to the federal government’s electric vehicle incentives on Monday, swerving the Canadian auto industry off the road — and now, industry leaders are calling for an end to federal EV sales mandates.
Ottawa has set targets for the auto industry to achieve 100 per cent zero emission vehicle sales (for new, light duty vehicles) by 2035. The government wants 20 per cent of new vehicles sold by 2026 to be electric, and 60 per cent by 2030.
Huw Williams, spokesperson for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, said the sudden pause has created confusion and chaos for dealers across the country. The abrupt announcement that the incentive program has run out of money has closed the portal that allowed dealers access to those incentives.
Canada’s National Observer called several dealerships and can confirm the sudden pause surprised and impacted local dealers in Ottawa.
Williams said he believes the market, not mandates, is the best tool to move the auto industry through the transition.
“If you put artificially imposed mandates that are just kind of made up at a time when we don't know where the market is going to be, where the cost is going to be, what the trade ramifications are, that's just going to mean a lot of unnecessary pain for consumers,” he said.
Joanna Kyriazis, director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada, told Canada’s National Observer she sympathizes with the auto industry and autodealers. She said the end of the incentives is a “huge oversight right at the time when Canadians can help make ends meet and reduce their monthly bills by getting a clean car that’s cheaper to own.”
Canadian EV drivers save about $30,000 to $40,000 over the course of the vehicle's life compared to driving a gas-powered car, according to a recent Clean Energy Canada analysis. EV drivers can expect to save around $3,000 to $4,000 per year, which is the equivalent of paying $0.40 per litre at the pump over the vehicle’s lifetime.
Still, many new EVs remain out of many working people’s budgets. The end of incentives that save consumers thousands doesn’t help.
Williams was joined at a Tuesday press conference by the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association and the Global Automakers of Canada, calling on the government to abandon its sales mandates.
Kyriazis is hopeful that prices for EVs are declining, and the used EV market is growing. It's still unclear how U.S. tariffs may affect market trends.
Kyriazis thinks the last thing Canada needs to do is put the foot on the brakes on both incentives and mandates.
“It's really not the time to go backwards,” she said.
Through the electric vehicle incentives, Transport Canada has supported the purchase of over 546,000 EVs and increased the market share of the vehicles from 3 to 16.5 percent from 2019 through to 2024's third quarter, said Laurent de Casanove, spokesperson for the minister, in a statement.
The statement also noted that the incentives were scheduled to pause on March 31. However, the autoindustry and other stakeholders were informed late last week that the program's funding has run dry.
"Unlike Pierre Poilievre and Conservative politicians who want to cut our investments in EVs, our Liberal Government will continue to fight climate change,” the statement continued.
Matteo Cimellaro / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer
This article has been updated to reflect comment from Transport Minister Anita Anand's Press Secretary.
Comments
It is really sad that NRCan gave a lot of its ZEVIP subsidies for the installation of Level 2 chargers, instead of directing it where it is needed, Level 3 ststion along main highways.
I wonder if there was a collusion with developers and real-estate companies who gained the most value when they installed Level 2 chargers in their buildings at the public's expense.
I suspect there is collusion between the auto industry and oil & gas to ensure it is made as difficult as possible for EVs to succeed. Just by the fact that the big three produced EV only for their high-end models that most average consumers can't afford.
Take Ford for example, The F-150 lightning and Mustang Mach-E, not your typical family vehicle that a growing family can use or afford. Then they wonder why sales are poor. Instead, the very same families have opted to foreign EV auto makers who have targeted the average family.
Why can't the big three automakers see that their own business model is their failure, not the lack of demand. So, they want EV incentives paused in an attempt to harm foreign EV auto makers, because of their own incompetence.
"Joanna Kyriazis, Clean Energy Canada, … said the end of the incentives is a 'huge oversight right at the time when Canadians can help make ends meet and reduce their monthly bills by getting a clean car that’s cheaper to own.'"
Taking the bus is even cheaper. Unfortunately, transit is underfunded across the country —leaving millions of non-drivers waiting for a bus that never comes.
Public dollars for transportation is limited. Transit is where funding needs to go. Not to support the private automobile. Cars, congestion, and sprawl defeat efficient public transit.
The goal for sustainable communities should not be more cars with transit as an afterthought. Transit needs to be central. More transit minus cars.
EV subsidies target the affluent while leaving non-drivers marginalized. If you can afford to buy a new car or recent-model used car, you do not need a subsidy.
People who want an electric car are free to buy one. Just don't ask me to help pay for it. Driving is already heavily subsidized.
No such thing as a "clean car". All cars have a massive materials, energy, and carbon footprint.
Urban planning advocate Jason Slaughter: "EVs are here to save the car industry, not the planet."
Clean Energy Canada is driving the wrong way down a one-way street.
Yeah, if those bastards won't make us some cheap electric cars I know a country that will. Dump the tariffs on Chinese cars!