According to a report from the Toronto Star, rather than forcing electric vehicles onto consumers, the legislation, called the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, will be promoted as a way to guarantee people who want EVs will be able to get them more quickly. “This is helping to solve one of the greatest barriers to EVs uptake: that wait times are too long,” a senior government officials speaking under the condition of anonymity told the Star. “We are making sure that supply is going toward Canadian markets, because one of the issues with EVs is that we're competing against other markets where the actual EVs are being shipped to,” the source added. Once enacted, the new regulations will cap an ambitious transition schedule that proposed various targets to convert Canada to a completely net-zero emissions auto industry. Officials have sought to ensure that one-fifth of all cars, SUVs, and trucks sold in Canada by 2026 are electric, with 60 percent of the country’s auto sales being EVs by 2030. The new regulations will apply to automakers, not dealers. Auto manufacturers will earn credits based on how many low- and no-emissions vehicles they sell. Those credits will determine whether they are in compliance with the new laws. "Given that cars last on the road for 15 years, if not longer, after they're bought, 2035 really needs to be the last year that we are selling gasoline cars in Canada brand new if we're going to have any chance of actually, by 2050, reaching net-zero carbon emissions," said Nate Wallace, the program manager for clean transportation at Environmental Defense. The new regulations are said to have two aims: reducing carbon emissions and eliminating air pollution caused by fossil fuel-powered vehicles. Automakers, however, have consistently pushed back against the proposed regulations. “What the mandate does is it forces a ratio of EV sales that is completely unrealistic given the current affordability challenges facing Canadians and the charging infrastructure gap. And that's not feasible,” Brian Kingston, president and CEO of Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, told the Star. “Rather than dictate which technologies have to be used, we should use the existing emissions regulations which Canada has aligned with the United States and make them increasingly stringent. And then you leave it up to the market and automakers to innovate, to reach those emissions reductions objectives,” Kingston said.Canadian officials are set to roll out new regulation mandating all new cars to be zero emissions by the year 2035.
