Canada: Electric vehicles to account for 100% of new car sales by 2035

Electric vehicles are proving to be quite popular with consumers, with 9% of vehicles sold worldwide in 2021 featuring an electrified powertrain, according to the International Energy Agency. This is a significant increase from 2019, when only 2.5% of vehicles sold were electric. The growth in EV sales has prompted some automakers to announce plans to phase out all internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in favor of fully electric vehicles. Leading the way is automaker Volvo, which plans to go fully electric as early as 2030. In some cases, however, governments are also stepping in, encouraging automakers and car buyers to use pure electric vehicles through legislation and other incentives.

Canada is one such country, which has announced plans to stop selling new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035 so that 100% of all cars sold in the country thereafter will be electric vehicles. The country has a vested interest in reducing carbon emissions from vehicles, with a study showing that the country is already feeling the effects of global warming far more than most other countries in the world. According to a report from Environment and Climate Change Canada, Canada is warming at twice the global rate. This will increase the intensity of forest fires and affect how often it rains and how much it snows, among other unwanted effects. The country hopes that pushing for electric vehicles will help solve some of its climate challenges.

The Canadian government is not being vague about kick-starting the transition to an all-electric vehicle market. It is providing $400 million in new funding for electric vehicle charging stations, with the goal of adding 50,000 electric vehicle charging stations to Canada's network. The Canada Infrastructure Bank is supplementing the investment with $500 million in additional investments for electric vehicle charging and related infrastructure. Another $600 million is being invested in the Smart Renewable Energy and Electrification Pathway program to ensure that the electric vehicle charging network itself is also powered by renewable energy.

The Canadian government is also providing $1.7 billion to further expand its Zero Emission Vehicle Incentive Program (iZEV), which is designed to provide subsidies to make it easier for ordinary Canadian citizens to buy electric vehicles. In 2021, only 5% of new cars sold in Canada were electric vehicles, according to Electric Autonomy Canada. To help achieve the goal of all electric vehicles by 2035, the Canadian government is establishing sales mandates that will see electric vehicles account for 20% of new cars sold in 2026, at least 60% by 2030, and then reach a goal of 100% by 2035.

From cnBeta.COM