Proposed legislation in Canada requiring 20 percent of new vehicle sales to be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2026 could concentrate zero-emission vehicles to just two Canadian provinces, limiting access to clean energy cars in other provinces.
British Columbia and Quebec stand to benefit the most from the draft if it is passed, offering “double the credit” to manufacturers selling in the two provinces, according to a report from Automotive News Canada.
CEO of Electric Mobility Canada recommended amending the proposal, saying that it would further distort the market if it isn’t changed.
“Basically, the manufacturer would get double the credit if they sell in British Columbia and Quebec,” Breton said. “It would mean that they would get the credits from the B.C. government [or] the Quebec government, and they would get credits for selling at the federal level.”
Canada Proposes EV Plan for New Gas Car Sales Ban by 2035 https://t.co/7PWXdPoEiU
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) December 21, 2022
Breton suggests some kind of prevention of automakers doubling up on credits, lest the legislation force automakers to keep pushing vehicles in British Columbia and Quebec.
Environment and Climate Change Canada said there was “no practical way to establish regional sales mandates at the federal level.”
“Moreover, ZEVs continue to gain market share throughout the country, and national requirements would give automakers the flexibility to respond to markets with high consumer interest and infrastructure readiness,” the department added.
Just a few weeks ago, the Canadian government recapped EV investments throughout 2022, noting the several manufacturing deals made for batteries, EVs and hybrids.
For 2022, Hyundai surpassed Tesla for the most federal iZEV rebates, with 12,777 battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids that qualified. Tesla had increased the price of its Model 3 so it was ineligible for the federal rebate in 2022, until only again recently.
Tesla recently lowered the price of its Model 3 below the $55,000 CAD limit, thus qualifying the sedan for the $5,000 CAD federal iZEV rebate, plus also up to $4,000 CAD rebates in B.C. and $7,000 CAD in Quebec.
