CANADA: World-Class Dunce in Electrification of Transportation

Do you know that Canada is one of the few developed countries in the world NOT supporting the development of the electrification of individual and public transportation?

Indeed, on one side:

• We learn that Canada spent about $1 billion in 2014-2015 on grants and programs to help oil and gas companies in the country pollute proportionately less (because they will still pollute more if production growth proceeds as projected by Alberta and Saskatchewan);

On the other side:

• Programs for R & D, and industrialization in electrification of transportation and incentives for electric vehicles border on near zéro.

So, while the vast majority of developed countries:

• Propose various forms of rebates or tax incentives for electric vehicles;
• Put in place the means to develop a charging infrastructure;
• Promote R & D and industrialization in the electrification of individual and public transportation;

The Canadian government:

• Offers no rebate on the purchase of a hybrid or electric car;
• Has done almost nothing to develop its charging infrastructure. Worse, it FORBIDS employees who work in federal buildings to plug their cars (and that’s just for 120V standard outlets);
• As for R & D, it established the Automotive Innovation Fund Program that claims to support innovation initiatives in the automotive sector, but is ultimately used far more to help multinationals modernize their assembly facilities in Ontario than anything else. Moreover, the best example of this is the financial support given to Toyota for its assembly installations for the electric RAV4 … which was not even available in Canada!

No revolution in sight

If you believe that the Trudeau government will bring upon a revolution, be aware that:

• This administration supports an increase of oils sands operations of at least of 40% as proposed by the Government of Alberta;
• It also supports several pipeline projects.

And here is what Justin Trudeau responded last year to the Quebec Association of Electric Vehicles (AVEQ) on what he will do:

“The Liberal caucus and I believe that Canada can be a world leader in research, development and manufacture of clean technologies. To achieve this, I recently made a commitment that the Liberal Party, if it forms the next government, will add electricity storage technologies and recharging stations for electric cars to the list of investments that qualify for accelerated depreciation. 

Furthermore, we will install charging stations for electric vehicles in all federal government parking lots, and we will add electric vehicles to the federal fleet. 

Let me once again thank you for taking the time to write to me with your questions regarding electronic transportation.”

http://www.aveq.ca/actualiteacutes/politique-delectrification-federale-la-reponse-du-parti-liberal-du-canada

Yes, “electronic” transportation!

In short, nothing to write home about.

Accelerated development… elsewhere

Here is a list of countries that offer various programs and incentives promoting the development of the electrification of transportation, many of which, like Canada, also produce fossil fuels.

• United States: federal tax credit of up to $ 7,500 for the purchase of an electric car + government support for R & D + rebates in several states + zero emission legislation in several states + new CAFE standards.
• China: rebate on the purchase of an electric car + billions $ for government programs in place for 15 years to financially support R & D, industrialization and commercialization of electric vehicles such as buses, trains, trucks and carS + charging infrastructure deployment + major investments in renewable energy. In 2015, China was the largest market in terms of sales of electric vehicles of all kinds.
• India: rebates for purchase of motorcycles and electric vehicles AND the government R & D program was expanded as recently as autumn 2015.
• Japan: accelerated development of charging infrastructure for electric cars and hydrogen + rebate on the purchase of vehicles + support programs for R & D.
• France: Eco bonus-malus + government investments in recharging infrastructures + regulatory measures + support for R & D.
• Austria: tax rebate for the purchase of an electric vehicle.
• Denmark: exemption from road taxes and registration fees + charging infrastructure.
• Estonia: first country to set up a full network of charging stations including several level 3 stations.
• Finland: reduced taxes on the purchase of an electric vehicle + deployment of charging infrastructure.
• Germany: reduced taxes on the purchase of an electric vehicle + charging infrastructure deployment + support for R & D.
• Ireland: rebate on the purchase of an electric car.
• Italy: rebate on the purchase of an electric car.
• Monaco: tax rebate with the purchase of an electric car.
• Holland: reduced taxes + charging infrastructure.
• Norway: Aggressive bonus-malus + traffic benefits for EVs + charging infrastructure.
• Sweden: rebate on the purchase of an electric car + rebate for home charging station installation.
• Britain: rebate on the purchase of an electric car + charging infrastructure.
• Colombia: tax rebate for the purchase of an electric car.

We could add Switzerland, Spain, Czech Republic, etc, etc, etc …

So if it wasn’t for Quebec (who still cut its last program’s budget by at least 40% and reduced R & D, commercialization and industrialization funding by more than 65%), Ontario (who just announced its improved program) and British Columbia …

… Canada would be standing last alongside Saudi Arabia and a few other such “modern” countries.

Edifying.

This article is a translation of «Le Canada : Cancre de calibre mondial en électrification des transports».

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Daniel Breton

First columnist specializing in green vehicles in Canada, Daniel Breton is now a blogger and a consultant on energy, environment and transportation electrification. His political career as a deputy in National Assembly of Quebec and as Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Wildlife and Parks was marked by his dedication to the environment. As parliamentarian assistant to the Premier of Quebec, he was responsible for the Transportation Electrification Strategy. Daniel was a renowned columnist on many platforms (newspapers, television and websites) and has lectured on energy and green transportation. He was also a guest lecturer in Bangladesh for the Copenhagen Summit, the founding president of ‘Maîtres chez nous-21e siècle’ (MCN21) and the coordinator and spokesperson for the Quebec-Vert-Kyoto Coalition.

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