Canada to Mandate 100 Percent EV Sales by 2035
The Canadian government will mandate the sale of EVs by the middle of the next decade. That's the message from the country's Environment minister Steven Guilbeault in new regulations his office announced earlier this week.
The proposed regulations require that 20 percent of all vehicle sales be electric by 2026 and 60 percent by 2030. By 2035, all passenger vehicles sold in the country will be electric. Automakers and import companies that can’t or won’t comply with the regulations could face fines, but the entire industry has work to do to hit those targets. CTVNews pointed out that EVs and PHEVs accounted for just 7.2 percent of new car registrations in 2022.
Some in the Canadian auto industry aren’t sure the government has it right. One executive said the country needs more EV infrastructure before setting a sales goal. Another noted long wait times for desirable EV models as a hurdle to adoption and said that the pressing climate emergency meant consumers needed to switch to EVs as soon as possible.
Others celebrated the announcement but were cautious about implementing the policy. Advocacy group Clean Energy Canada said the penalties needed to be legally enforced but warned that the process was complex and time-consuming. Further driving this point home: Parts of Canada already have EV sales targets, but the government didn’t enforce them and couldn’t get the industry on board.
Previous estimates by the Government of Canada stated that reaching the sales goals would require 395,000 EV sales in 2026, 1.2 million in 2030, and 2.0 million in 2035. That translates to approximately 4.6 million EVs on the road by 2030 and 12.4 million by 2035.
The government is expected to announce a points system to track EV sales, with electric vehicles getting a larger credit than plug-in hybrids. That’s great on paper, but in Canada, just like here, PHEVs are a better choice for people living in remote and rural areas.
[Image: EVGo]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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