The rising gasoline prices, the steady increase in carbon prices, and the request by European powers to use fewer Fossil Fuels to show solidarity with Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, better and cheaper electric vehicles are a few factors that might mean that Canada may have hit its long-awaited electric vehicle turning point.
Nino di Cara, the founder of Canadian media
start-up Electric Autonomy believes
that the only missing piece of the puzzle is that automotive manufacturers and
dealerships haven't been stocking and selling enough E.V.s. Di Cara said, "There
is already a huge amount of consumer interest and demand."
The industry has not been able to meet the
surging amount of orders for electrics. Nino di Cara also noted that it's not a
recent problem as salespeople haven't been inclined to sell E.V.s or hybrids
for a while now.
The New Federal Plan
A new federal plan might solve this problem
by insisting on selling internal combustion vehicles. According to it, salespeople
must also move a certain percentage of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). This
scheme has worked well in California, B.C., and Quebec. Rebates offered by B.C.
and Quebec are also a factor.
The Challenges Faced by Manufacturers
Some major challenges of selling E.V.s were
highlighted recently by the president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers'
Association, Brian Kingston, who talked about pain points like making electrics
is expensive, the tax incentives by the government being low, and charging
networks being yet to be completed.
Level Playing Field is Essential
Nino di Cara is sympathetic to these
challenges. He said, "From an automaker's point of view, it is quite
understandable, you prefer not to have those mandates and requirements to sell
a certain number of vehicles." But he also said that having standardized
rules in place for every manufacturer level the playing field for all the competing
Canadian dealerships.
He stated, "It's no longer a question
of E.V.s when; it's now just a question of how." Di Cara also highlighted
that the world switched from horsepower to oil power when there was almost no
oil, but businesses learned to drill miles underground in a few years and often
made a fortune. So, businesses should not wait for charging station networks or
to have a huge stock of battery minerals to start pushing E.V.s.
What Research Says About EV Adoption in
Canada
New research shared by Clean Energy Canada compared E.V.s
with their internal combustion equivalents revealed that buying an electric car
already saves a consumer a minimum of $15,000 over the life of a car.
New Business Opportunities Will Also
Rise
Adopting E.V.s in Canada will also lead to
new entrepreneurial businesses like Electric Autonomy. The company recently challenged
architects to create the E.V. equivalent of gas stations. It was a successful
event as the winning design by Scottish architect James Silvester will soon be
turned into a reality in British Columbia by service station company Parkland.
It was one of the sponsors of the competition.
Sources:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/electric-vehicle-column-don-pittis-1.6403537
http://dailygeneralworldnews.com/canada-may-have-hit-its-long-awaited-electric-vehicle-turning-point/
https://headtopics.com/ca/canada-may-have-hit-its-long-awaited-electric-vehicle-turning-point-cbc-news-25328007