Where are Canada’s electric cars?

Canada is falling behind in electric vehicle sales at least in part due to a lack of any federal “zero-emission vehicle” policies, leaving responsibility to the provinces. This means no federally issued rebates or supply-side policies aimed at making the electric vehicle market more efficient.

Canadian auto manufacturing associations have indicated significant opposition to a zero-emissions vehicle mandate, which would set a target for the number of electric vehicles government would like to see on the road.  In June, the chief economist for the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association told the National Observer that “we’re very strongly against that.”

…On Tuesday, five organizations — the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, Clean Energy Canada, Environmental Defence, Equiterre and Simon Fraser University’s Sustainable Transportation Research Team — launched an online social media campaign called EVchoice.ca to counter that corporate pressure and encourage the federal government to implement a zero-emissions vehicle mandate. (Ottawa has said previously that it won’t implement such a policy.) Here is a direct video link.