Automotive News Canada - April 2019 - 17

17

* APRIL 2019

EV infrastructure
gets funding boost
$130 million from the federal
government will bolster consumer
confidence to buy electric vehicles,
Global Automakers' chief says

GRADING THE PROVINCES AND THE COUNTRY
2016 grade

2016 current
and proposed
policies grade

2019 grade

2019 current
and proposed
policies grade

C-

C-

C

A+

D

D

D

D

F

D

F

D

Ontario

F

D

F

D

C-

C

D

D

Quebec

B-

B

B-

B

F

D

F

D

F

D

F

D

F

D

F

D

F

D

F

D

British Columbia
Alberta

Saskatchewan
Manitoba

New Brunswick
Nova Scotia

Prince Edward Island

Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada

C-

C

C

C

Source: John Axsen

B.C. earns an A for ZEV policy
Study finds no
change elsewhere
- except for an
Ontario downgrade

"That's way more than we were
expecting anyone to commit
to."

ONTARIO NOW GETS A D

While other provinces'
grades remain unchanged,
By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
Ontario is the only jurisdiction
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT
to lose ground because of the
government's cancellation last
BRITISH COLUMBIA IS THE
year of programs that provided
country's only jurisdiction to
incentives of up to $14,000 to EV
make updates to its zero-emisconsumers as well as subsidies
sion-vehicle (ZEV) policy
for charging stations.
that are significant enough to
"The financial incentive was
earn a top grade on
the main reason they
Canada's Electric
were in the C range,"
Vehicle Policy
Axsen said.
Report Card, the
The federal govstudy's author said.
ernment's EV incenJonn Axsen, a
tives, announced
professor at Simon
in the 2019 budFraser University
get, slightly raised
in Burnaby, B.C.,
Canada's overall
leads the school's
ranking to a C.
Sustainable
"Part of the
Transportation
framework is considJonn Axsen,
Action Research
author of the study ering the transforTeam (START),
mative signal, as we
of zero-emissionwhich conducted the vehicle policy,
call it," Axsen said.
research that pro"Is a policy showing
says that unlike
duced the report
industry and stakeBritish Columbia,
card in 2016. Axsen
which will penalize holders that we're
provided Automotive non-compliance of making this transiNews Canada an
tion? Is it giving the
its new ZEV sales
informal revised
automaker confilaws, the federal
grades based on pol- government "is
dence to invest that
icy developments
r&d and for dealerjust saying that
across the country.
they'll make
ships to train their
'voluntary' goals
No province was
staff?
for automakers,
on track to receive
"I would only
an A grade when the which is no policy really give the
at all - no teeth,
study was first conannounced subsino transformative
ducted, but B.C.'s
dy a couple of years'
signal."
plan to require 100
worth of signal. With
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
per cent of new
a moderate size,
BY JONN AXSEN
vehicles sold to be
short duration and
zero-emission by
only certain battery
2040 breaks that barrier, Axsen
electric vehicles included, it
said.
wouldn't be game-changing at
"British Columbia would
all."
now get an A-plus," he said.
In jurisdictions where no

incentives have ever been
offered - most notably the
Prairies and Atlantic Canada -
no changes to current or future
policy have been made since
the initial study was performed.
At that time, six of the seven
provinces in those regions
received an F because "the policies currently in place [were)]
not likely to encourage electric
vehicle market shares greater than five per cent by 2040,"
according to the 2016 report.
Alberta received a slightly
higher D grade due to its policy of granting high-occupancy-vehicle-lane access to plug-in
vehicles and applying a provincial carbon tax, but these initiatives were deemed unlikely
to grow electric vehicle market share beyond 10 per cent by
2040 and little has changed in
the meantime, Axsen said.

A GOAL ISN'T A POLICY
The federal Liberals also
announced a sales target of 100
per cent zero-emission vehicles
by 2040 and allotted $5 million
over five years for the government to work with auto manufacturers to "secure voluntary
zero-emission-vehicle sales targets."
But that target is voluntary,
Axsen said.
"That is a goal, not a policy,"
he said. "Our history is full of
lofty environmental and energy
goals that are never achieved
due to a lack of policy.
"B.C. will make these into
requirements with firm penalties for noncompliance.
Federally, Canada is just saying that they'll make 'voluntary' goals for automakers,
which is no policy at all - no
teeth, no transformative
signal." - ANC

By STEPHANIE WALLCRAFT
TORONTO CORRESPONDENT

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S FIVE-YEAR,
$130-million plan to install electric-vehicle and hydrogen-refueling infrastructure across the country
could help consumers overcome range anxiety, says
David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of
Canada.
"That is really going to be key to giving consumers the confidence to purchase these vehicles, knowing
they have places to actually fill them and charge them,"
Adams said.
As well, "the initiatives focused on workplace
charging are pretty important because people generally charge their vehicles at home and at
work."
Natural Resources
Canada will receive
Through phase 1 of the
$130 million to
Electric Vehicle and Alternative
deploy "new rechargFuel Infrastructure Deployment
ing and refueling staInitiative, Natural Resources
tions in workplaces,
Canada has allocated $16.4
public parking spots,
million toward the deploycommercial and
ment of 102 Level 3 chargers,
multiunit residenseven natural-gas fueling statial buildings, and
tions and three hydrogen staremote locations,"
tions. Requests for proposal
according to the plan
for phase 2 are currently open.
announced in the
Projects selected this summer
2019 federal budget.
will receive $80 million, with a
The federal plan
target of installing 900 Level 3
supplements privatechargers, 15 natural-gas staand public-sector
tions and 12 hydrogen fuel-cell
initiatives already
stations across Canada.
under way, but
"more can be done,"
Adams said.
"The important thing is having the Level 3 chargers
at strategic points along major highways where consumers are going to be travelling, charging [EVs] fairly
quickly - like about 20 minutes or so - while they're
having a coffee at Tim Hortons," he said.

PHASE 1

BUILDING EV INFRASTRUCTURE
Across the country, private industry and government are looking to boost EV infrastructure.
In early February, the Alberta government
announced it will spend $2 million to have 20 Level
2 (240 volts AC) and Level 3 chargers (480 volts DC)
installed in the southern part of the province by the
end of this year.
In New Brunswick, NB Power and Natural
Resources Canada invested $926,000 and $350,000,
respectively, early this year to add seven Level 3
charging stations to the province's eCharge network,
bringing the total to 26 Level 3 and 67 Level 2 stations.
Also in February, Petro-Canada became the first gasoline retailer to announce a charging infrastructure.
Level 3 stations will be installed at 50 Petro-Canada
locations along the Trans-Canada Highway from
Nova Scotia to British Columbia. A test site is open in
Milton, Ont., and the remainder of the sites will open
over the next year.
While most automakers have said they don't intend
to go into the energy business, the Volkswagen Group
did just that by establishing a subsidiary, Electrify
Canada, in the summer of 2018. By the second quarter of 2019, 32 EV charging sites will be operating near
major highways and in major metro areas in British
Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec, Electrify
Canada said.
Audi Canada spokesman Cort Nielsen said buyers
of the new e-tron battery-electric utility vehicle will
receive unlimited charging on the Electrify Canada network within the first two years of ownership. - ANC
Automotive News Canada - April 2019

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