Unless policies or technologies change, the cost of electric vehicles (EVs) needs to decrease by 31 per cent if Canada to wants to reach its sales target of 60 per cent EVs by 2030, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Unless policies or technologies change, the ownership cost of electric vehicles (EVs) needs to decrease by 31 per cent if Canada to wants to reach its sales target of 60 per cent EVs by 2030, according to a new report released Thursday by Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux.

Last December, the federal government unveiled its Electric Vehicle Availability Standard that outlined zero-emission vehicle sales targets for automakers. The standard requires all new light-duty sales in Canada to be electric or plug-in hybrid by 2035. There are also interim targets of at least 20 per cent of all sales being EVs by 2026 and 60 per cent by 2030.

Those federal government targets come as growth forecasts for auto companies have plateaued and concerns about charging infrastructure persist. The price of EVs has also pushed the cars out of reach for many consumers. According to the Canadian Black Book, the average cost of an EV was $73,000 in 2023.

    • masterspaceEnglish
      22·
      4 months ago

      What’s suspicious is western car companies refusing to make small cheap EVs that consumers might actually want to buy.

      • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
        9·
        4 months ago

        This is a huge factor. It isn’t just the initial costs. A smaller EV is lighter, a simple EV is lighter, this lets it use less energy overall which ultimately means you pay less in electricity.

        Smaller vehicles tend to have smaller tires, which are cheaper. Cheaper vehicles are also cheaper to insure than more expensive ones.

        All these factors combined can easily be the difference between affording a new EV or having to stick in the used ICE market.

      • Nik282000
        51·
        4 months ago

        No, that’s pretty much in line with America’s oil first economy.

    • girlfreddyOP
      5·
      4 months ago

      I wrote this for another post but it’s still relative here.

      How many times have we bailed out or given loans/grants to the Big Three?

      • 1979 - Dec. 21- Chrysler receives a $1.5 billion federal loan guarantee, known as the Chrysler Loan Guarantee Act of 1979, the first big US automaker bailout. Source

      • Dec 2008 - President Bush announces a $13.4 billion emergency bailout for GM and Chrysler to be paid by mid-January 2009. (source same as above)

      2018 - Liberal government writes off 2009 $1.1B US loan to Chrysler, plus interest, docs show Source

      • 2023 - Auto industry’s switch to EVs gets $12 billion in loans and grants from the US Energy Department Source

      2024 - Canada’s PBO estimates total corresponding government support (for EV capital and operating expenses) to be up to $52.5 billion Source