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.
Street chargers would be good. If I recall those laws for requiring condo boards to respond are very recent, and a good start.
You’re absolutely right about the lack of education though. I swear half the people I talk to think the only way to charge one is via an 800v fast charger, and the other half assume my range is about 100km in the winter.
People are always shocked about the range, lol. I get about 400km and people always do a double-take at that.
My winter range on a highway with heat on is around 385, which is the sticker value when I bought it.
My summer range is almost 500.
It’s a lot more than people think.
Yeah. I think some of the first-gen Leafs or something got some hilarious number like 80km, and lots of people just never updated their belief after that, lol.