Automotive News Canada - January 2023 - 10

10
01.23
OPINION
The road to ZEVs
is paved with
good intentions
YES, I SUBSTITUTED " ZEVS " FOR
" hell " in this popular expression.
The federal government's quest to
rid dealership showrooms of internal-combustion
vehicles by using a
zero-emissions sales mandate could be
all about good intentions. Significantly
less fossil fuel being burned over time
is a good thing for the air and the planet
in general.
The world is shifting and nearly every
automaker is investing
huge sums in
electrification plans
for the vehicles they
sell, so they obviously
agree.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
JEFF
MELNYCHUK
Then why is the
industry in an uproar
about the new federal
ZEV sales mandate? (story, Page 1)
If I may borrow a quote from Flavio
Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts
Manufacturers' Association, " Ideology
over ideas, government intervention without
taking a view on the supply side, is
brainless. "
Without the
supply side on its
feet, automakers
have little chance
of meeting the
new federal ZEV
sales mandate.
I like this quote because Volpe
doesn't represent any one automaker.
And I like it because he's smart and
knows how to get the impossible done: a
concept car called
Project Arrow that
was built during
three years of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
He knows
the challenges
facing Canada's
suppliers and has
a good grasp of
what's possible
and what isn't.
So when he joins the chorus and calls
the federal plan brainless, it's wise to
take note.
But you might be wondering, if British
Columbia and Quebec can have ZEV
sales mandates - B.C. appears to be at
or near 20 per cent ZEVs sales, according
to S&P Global's third-quarter update
- then why not the rest of the country?
Fair question.
Well, the two provinces have had a
huge head start and have significant
consumer rebates in play. Ontario, in
particular, does not. B.C. and Quebec
are mostly responsible for third-quarter
ZEV registrations of about 9.5 per cent,
nationally.
That gives the rest of the country
about two-and-half years to pick up the
slack: The federal mandate of 20 per
cent nationally applies to all 2025 model-year
vehicles.
Volpe's comment about being " brainless "
comes in handy right about here.
Presuming there were enough affordable
ZEVs on the market, which there aren't,
and presuming
there was enough
variety in ZEV types,
which there isn't,
and presuming that
Canadians even
want them, which
many don't, there is
also likely no way
they could be built to meet the deadline.
Take lithium. The only large-scale
mine in North America (story, Page 13)
is in Quebec, and it's not online yet. The
rest of the supply chain isn't on its feet,
either: The new NextStar Energy battery
plant in Windsor, Ont., isn't expected to
be up and running until 2025. Honda,
for one, doesn't even make an EV. The
first will be the 2024 Prologue. And current
wait time to get an EV can be a
year or more. What about the lack of
charging infrastructure for apartments
and condos? Surely there's street
charging? Also no. The Toronto Parking
Authority EV charging project is barely
out of the test phase (story, Page 24).
Maybe brainless doesn't go far
enough to describe the mandate. Maybe
the right word is insanity.
Assuming 1.5 million annual sales in
Canada (2022), 300,000 2025-model-year
vehicles would have to be ZEVs.
It's about half that now. On a good
pre-pandemic year of two million sales,
20 per cent is 400,000 ZEVs.
The penalty to automakers for noncompliance
is up to $20,000 per vehicle.
As Volpe said, they might as well
start handing out the fines now because,
" Nobody is going to make it. "
Is there any wonder why the industry
is showing zero love for the feds' ZEV
sales mandate? Assuming it's passed
into law, the road to ZEVs/hell might
indeed be paved with good intentions,
but it's a path that has put the cart
before the horse. - ANC
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Charging ahead with stations
is not the plan for all auto brands
MERCEDES-BENZ'S PLAN TO BUILD MORE THAN
10,000 fast chargers across its global markets by the
end of the decade is impressive. But not every automaker
will be following its lead.
" No, " Hyundai Canada CEO Don
Romano replied when asked whether
other car companies will have to
emulate Mercedes' strategy if they
hope to spur electric-vehicle sales.
" It sounds good. Makes good
media, " he said. " But ... ultimately,
we're not in the best position to
determine where customers should
go to charge. "
Mercedes' idea
to build 10,000
charging stations
gets ahead of the
infrastructure
crunch and is
good PR.
Mercedes would beg to differ. It used the recent
CES in Las Vegas to announce plans to spend billions
on charging infrastructure over
the next seven years in North
America, Europe, China and
other markets. In Canada and
the United States, the luxury
carmaker will spend about
$1.4 billion to give its customers
and EV drivers from other
brands greater access to infrastructure
capable of restoring a
significant charge to EV batteries
in minutes (story, Page 25).
As well, Mercedes-Benz
customers will get preferential treatment with such
benefits as access to a reservation function, designed
to eliminate waits for charging.
The automaker is targeting 400 fast-charging hubs
in North America that will include 2,500 individual
charge points with up to 350 kW of charging power
by 2027. Most stations will be along major traffic
arteries and at retail locations, as well as at
Mercedes-Benz dealerships, the company said.
Mercedes aims to have an all-electric lineup
across its key markets by 2030. But to accelerate
the transition to EVs, company CEO Ola Källenius
said, Mercedes must ensure that the " charging experience
keeps pace as well. "
MACALUSO
MANAGING EDITOR
GRACE
" Our customers deserve a compelling
charging experience that
makes electric-vehicle ownership
and long-distance travel effortless, "
he said in a release. " We won't take
a wait-and-see approach for this to
be built. "
But Hyundai Canada's Romano
said governments and Canada's
12,000 fuel stations should be primarily responsible
for ensuring that EV drivers have easy access to
chargers.
" I would say
the gas stations
are going to instill
a lot more confidence
in consumers
who are
thinking about
getting an EV, "
said Romano.
" When you walk
into a showroom
and they go,
'Where do I get a
charge?' You go, 'Any Petro-Canada, any Shell.' It just
removes that whole [range anxiety] issue. "
Simplicity is key, he said. " We should just keep it
where you can swipe a credit card, or we have one
system where everybody can use it for easy pay to
ensure that we overcome concerns customers have
about charging.
To support its upcoming
all-electric lineup, MercedesBenz
plans to have 2,500
EV charging points in North
America by 2027.
ILLUSTRATION:
MERCEDES-BENZ
" As long as you can go get it charged, you know,
and now we're charging [in] 20 minutes, then suddenly
the range anxiety goes down. " - ANC
Project Arrow: A Canadian miracle
I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST
heard about Project Arrow, the
all-Canadian, electric concept to
be built from the ground up by
Canadian suppliers.
I thought, " How cool, great
name. " And then I thought,
" Yeah, right. "
Never doubt
the will of
inspired
Canadians
wanting to
do something
radical.
PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY CRAIN COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
KC CRAIN, GROUP PUBLISHER & CEO
JEFF MELNYCHUK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, 506.866.8236, Jeff.Melnychuk@autonews.com
GRACE MACALUSO, MANAGING EDITOR, 226.787.0441, Grace.Macaluso@autonews.com
GREG LAYSON, DIGITAL AND MOBILE EDITOR, 519.567.8877, Greg.Layson@autonews.com
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KEITH E. CRAIN, EDITOR EMERITUS
It was typically Canadian of
me: thinking it was a great idea
but thinking the Americans - or
Japanese or
Germans -
might be better
suited to pull off
such a stunt.
Don't get me
wrong. I thought
the idea was
ambitious, inspiring
and totally
possible. I even
wrote as much
in this space and
online. But I wasn't sure it would
see its way to the finish line.
I was wrong.
Project Arrow's unveiling Jan. 6
at CES in Las Vegas drew swarms
of news media and industry executives,
including GM Canada
President Marissa West and
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
What the Automotive Parts
Manufacturers' Association
(APMA) and its members - with
financial backing from the federal,
Ontario and Quebec governments
- accomplished was nothing
short of a miracle.
Think about what this group
overcame.
APMA President Flavio Volpe
announced the project just weeks
before COVID-19 landed on our
shores. The industry shut down.
Face-to-face meetings were all
but banned, in nearly every industry.
Still, Project Arrow remained
on target.
I can't tell you the number of
times I asked Volpe: " Are you still
on time? On budget? " The
answer was always an unequivocal
" yes. "
When the list of suppliers was
made public, there were two
notable omissions: Magna
International Inc. and Linamar
Corp., the two biggest parts
makers in Canada. Both were on
sibling publication Automotive
News' list of the top 100 global
suppliers. Two companies that
could likely build their own electric
vehicle.
Despite their physical absence,
they played a role. " Magna's
world-class EV platform launch,
and Linamar's pioneering powertrain
and fuel-cell initiatives
inspired us to pursue Project
Arrow as a platform for suppliers
who had advanced technologies
but no vehicle to demonstrate
them on, " Volpe told me. " Magna
DIGITAL AND
MOBILE EDITOR
GREG
LAYSON
and Linamar lent extensive advice
and guidance on this ambitious
mission and they helped make it
a working reality. "
Of course there are comparisons
to the ill-fated Canadianmade
Avro Arrow supersonic jet of
the late 1950s, which, fittingly,
was also built by APMA members.
Volpe addressed that in a
LinkedIn Post on Jan. 9.
" The spirit of what those
amazing Canadians did in the
1950s inspires us still. I'm not
afraid of how it ended, I know its
history. If it were easy, there'd be
nothing to talk about.
" I'm very proud that
Automotive Parts Manufacturers'
Association members helped to
build both. "
As he - and all of us -
should be. - ANC
GM Canada President Marissa
West at the CES reveal of
Project Arrow and the APMA's
Flavio Volpe, right, who
maintained that Project Arrow
would be completed on time
and on budget.
PHOTO: TIM DIMOPOULOS

Automotive News Canada - January 2023

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