Canada to mandate all vehicles be zero-emission by 2035 because 'wait times' for EVs are 'too long': Report

The government of Canada will mandate that all new cars be zero-emission by 2035, with a government official claiming the move is to allow quicker access to electric vehicles, according to an anonymous official.

The new legislation, named the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, will allegedly shorten alleged wait times for EVs.

A senior government official spoke to the Toronto Star, but the outlet agreed not to name the official due to the policy not being made public yet.

"This is helping to solve one of the greatest barriers to EVs uptake: that wait times are too long," the official claimed. "We are making sure that supply is going toward Canadian markets, because one of the issues with EVs is that we're competing against other markets where the actual EVs are being shipped to," the official added.

The law will require that 20% of car sales be electric cars in 2026, 60% in 2030, and of course 100% by 2035. Companies can also reportedly receive credits toward their zero-emission vehicle sales before the regulations are put into effect in 2026.

They can also do this by building fast chargers for electric vehicles. The government official claimed that federal authorities will also build 84,500 fast chargers by 2029.

"By doing this nationally, we will make sure supply is available and that consumers in all provinces are going to get quicker access to the vehicles," the government agent went on.

However, president and CEO of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association Brian Kingston said that the mandate "forces a ratio of EV sales that is completely unrealistic given the current affordability challenges facing Canadians and the charging infrastructure gap."

"That's not feasible," he added.

Rather than force the technology, Kingston prefers a process of stringent regulations to get manufacturers to align with the government's environmental agenda.

"Rather than dictate which technologies have to be used, we should use the existing emissions regulations which Canada has aligned with the United States and make them increasingly stringent. And then you leave it up to the market and automakers to innovate, to reach those emissions reductions objectives," Kingston asserted. "That's the best approach."

Despite the government official and the Canadian outlet's claims that there has been a significant consumer demand that has been dampened by a lack of EV availability, manufacturers worldwide have been cutting production steadily.

Specifically, Ford will cut production in half. Automotive News reported that the Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, has been producing about 3,200 F-150 Lightning trucks per week but will drop to 1,600 weekly.

Honda has ditched plans to co-develop electric vehicles with GM. The goal was to produce a brand that could be sold for under $30,000, but Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the market was too unpredictable, so the plans were canceled.

General Motors also recently announced it would be slowing electric vehicle production after losing nearly $1 billion from the autoworkers' strike.

Currently, one in eight vehicles sold in Canada are electric or plug-in hybrid, according to the Toronto star.

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