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.
They’ll get used to it if it’s the only way, or they’ll find a workaround, like a sensible railway network. Big gas taxes would create a big opportunity for private industry to build railways. Where’s the invisible hand of the free market? I’ll tell you where it is, it’s scratching its own bum out of boredom because the government won’t regulate externalities and make companies responsible for their own decisions.
Im all for trains, but i don’t see a train stopping to drop off 3 parcels. Unfortunately we atill need road based deliveries unless we want to completely rethink our economy. There is also the factor that quality of life was a lot lower in most rural areas before these services