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When Judy Goodwin wanted to test drive an electric car, she didn’t go to a dealer. Instead, she went to a not-for-profit in northern Toronto called Plug’n Drive.
“They’re hard to come by,” she said of electric vehicles (EVs). “My sister tried to buy one and she couldn’t find one that was available.”
Plug’n Drive not only has a showroom where you can test drive emission-free vehicles (ZEVs), the employees are also trained ambassadors who answer questions about the charging of the vehicles, their range and their costs.
“We’ve found time and time again that this is the experience people love when they try it out,” said Cara Clairman, CEO of Plug’n Drive, which is working to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in Canada.
In this 2011 photo, a customer looks over a Ford Fusion parked in a parking lot in Colma, California. According to a 2020 study commissioned by Transport Canada, nearly two-thirds of dealerships in Canada don’t have a single electric vehicle available to buy or test drive. (David Paul Morris / Getty Images)
Whether driven by high gasoline prices or a sense of urgency fueled by climate change, more and more Canadians are considering switching to electric vehicles (EV). According to a recent survey by KPMG, almost 70 percent of Canadians planning to buy a new car in the next five years are expected to buy an electric drive.
At the same time, electric cars made up just under four percent of all vehicle sales last year – although Canada has set a binding target that all new cars and light trucks sold in the country should be emission-free by 2035.
To achieve this goal, advocates need to do a lot more.
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Address the supply issues
Almost two-thirds of dealerships in Canada don’t have a single electric vehicle to buy or test drive, according to a 2020 study commissioned by Transport Canada.
Now that the pandemic is causing problems in the supply chain, things have gotten worse.
Increasing supply is essential to accelerate electric car adoption by Canadians, said Merran Smith, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, a program at Simon Fraser University.
“They don’t want to buy new technology that you can’t see, and they don’t want to put themselves on a list and wait six or twelve months to get a car. If you need a car, now you need it. “
Smith said the federal government needs a strong, national mandate for zero-emission vehicles that requires dealerships in the country “have the cars and sell a percentage of them.” [electric] Cars.”
Affordability is another important issue
While the prices of zero-emission vehicles are falling, they remain more expensive than their gasoline counterparts – up to $ 20,000 more, according to a recent TD report. The cheapest electric car on the market, the 2022 Nissan LEAF, comes with a pre-discount price of $ 37,498.
Cheaper electric vehicles like the Nissan Leaf are designed to attract newcomers. (The Associated Press)
The federal government is offering a discount of up to $ 5,000. Smith said these incentives should continue until there is cost parity between electric and gasoline cars, and target low-income families as well.
“They’re often the ones who can’t quite afford the extra $ 5,000 or $ 10,000 it takes to get the electric vehicle. But they will benefit from the savings, ”she said.
In the meantime, the discount programs of the provinces vary greatly. Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Nunavut are not currently offering incentives to purchase new zero-emission vehicles, but the other provinces and territories have strong programs.
And the numbers suggest incentives are working: Quebec and BC, which each offer healthy EV incentives, are also leaders in the country in EV adoption.
Expand infrastructure
Another obstacle to adoption is the availability of infrastructure to charge electric cars, whether the driver is on a road trip or lives in a crowded urban center. According to Natural Resources Canada, there are over 6,000 public charging stations across Canada, but around 12,000 gas stations.
During the recent general election, Liberals fought on a platform that included an additional $ 700 million to create 50,000 new electric and hydrogen charging stations. If the government keeps that promise, it would give Canada’s infrastructure a big boost.
Proponents say that the availability of charging infrastructure is an obstacle to the wider adoption of electric vehicles. (Nacho Doce / Reuters)
Companies are also tackling the issue of infrastructure. General Motors recently announced plans to install 4,000 charging stations in Canada to invest more in electric vehicles.
“We have Canadian companies that are making the effort,” said Smith. “We will see more and more of these in the energy transition; new jobs, new opportunities for companies when we switch from fossil fuels to an electrical system.”