Time to hit the brakes on unrealistic EV targets in B.C. - "British Columbia’s electric vehicle sales mandates were created with good intentions, but the collision with reality is now obvious. Although we are still in 2025, the 26 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales mandate is already hitting our dealerships. That’s because it applies to the 2026 model year, and many of those models are starting to arrive across the province now. While 26 percent sounds moderate compared to 90 per cent by 2030 or 100 per cent by 2035, as also required by B.C. law, the facts on the ground are grim. According to S&P Global Mobility data, EV sales in B.C. have plummeted to around 15.4 per cent as of June 2025, down from nearly 25 per cent in mid-2024. This decline happened fast after both federal (up to $5,000) and provincial governments (up to $4,000 in B.C.) stopped funding their EV rebate programs earlier this year. So, the very incentives that made expensive electric vehicles accessible to middle-income buyers disappeared just when they were needed most. Government polling shows 60 per cent of British Columbians say cost is their biggest barrier to buying electric vehicles. And yet, both levels of government pulled the financial support while maintaining the sales mandates, with penalties of up to $20,000 per non-compliant vehicle. This is not just bad policy, it’s economic punishment for our auto sector... powering an all-electric vehicle fleet is no small task. The Energy Futures Institute modelled B.C.’s electricity needs under the 2035 mandate scenario and found full implementation would require an extra two Site C dams’ worth of electricity. We’ve already been importing 20-25 percent of our electricity annually for the past few years, often from fossil fuels, which contradicts our clean energy goals... With governments forcing unattainable mandates, they are creating resentment amongst potential buyers and a political backlash against EVs themselves... The market shift to regular hybrids, which you don’t plug in, is not supported by rebates. But the shift is happening nevertheless. However, these vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius, are not considered “clean” enough under B.C. legislation and could attract a penalty of $20,000 each. This only makes things worse for consumers who are already stretched. Punitive mandates create market distortions, restrict consumer choice, and drive up vehicle prices for everyone, especially lower-income families who rely on affordable used cars."
Economic implications of a phased‐in EV mandate in Canada - "Canada plans to phase out internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) sales in favour of electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035 as part of its climate policy. Herein I examine the economic implications of a phased-in electric vehicle mandate. I show using partial equilibrium analysis that when both types of cars are available, auto companies will overproduce electric vehicles and earn scarcity rents on internal combustion engine vehicles that partially offset the revenue loss on electric vehicles. I then present a numerical general equilibrium model of the Canadian economy to assess the overall macroeconomic consequences of the policy. The results depend critically on the assumed pace at which electric vehicles achieve cost parity with internal combustion engine vehicles on a quality-adjusted basis. An electric vehicle mandate will have manageable economic consequences if technology improves so rapidly that the mandate is unnecessary. If the mandate outpaces achievement of cost parity the economic consequences can be severe and would likely cause the auto manufacturing sector to shut down. The cost per tonne of emission reductions are at least 10 times the Canadian carbon tax rate while the mandate is binding. The analysis provides insight into why automakers have been willing hitherto to develop and sell electric vehicles even though they currently lose money on them."
Losing 38,000 jobs over 5 years is a worthy price to virtue signal while not helping combat climate change
another EV domino has just toppled - " It turns out that the speed-obsessed petrolheads, along with the status-obsessed playboys, who made up the bulk of its customers are not really interested in a souped up lawnmower after all. The sports and luxury car manufacturer Porsche has this week announced that it is giving up making its own batteries for electric cars because the demand isn’t there. Meanwhile, the European automobile and suppliers associations have recently written to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen arguing the 2035 ban on combustion engines is no longer feasible. One by one, the EV dominos are falling. It can’t be much longer before the whole catastrophic experiment is cancelled – but unfortunately not before it has done huge damage to Europe’s largest industry... That comes after Northvolt, the Swedish battery start-up that was meant to be the largest in Europe, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. Likewise, in a recent letter to von der Leyen, the Mercedes-Benz chief executive Ola Kaellenius and Matthias Zink, the CEO of the auto parts supplier Schaeffler, warned on behalf of the European auto industry that the 2035 ban on the sale of petrol cars was no longer feasible. Europe, they added, risked becoming completely dependent on China for its supply of batteries. EVs were meant to lead an industrial renaissance, creating hundreds of thousands of “well-paid green jobs”, re-booting the economy, re-establishing industrial leadership, and saving the planet at the same time. But it is not looking as if any of that will happen right now. In reality, the ideologically-driven obsession with imposing EVs on a reluctant European market is collapsing. There were three big problems. To start with, the infrastructure wasn’t in place. In most of Europe, people live in apartments, making it very hard to install home chargers, while even in countries such as the UK where more of us live in houses it is often impossible to slot a giant plug into a suburban driveway. Likewise, chargers along main roads were hopelessly inadequate, and the cost of electricity was far too high to make it affordable to run an electric car. Next, the manufacturers were in no state to invest the hundreds of billions that were needed to switch from one technology to another. Indeed, as the success of the Chinese brands, along with Tesla, has shown, it is probably easier to start from scratch than to convert a combustion engine giant to electricity. Finally, customers don’t really like them, nor do they trust an EV to get them to their destination in time. Add it all up, and one point is clear: they have been a colossal flop. There is a catch, however. Europe’s largest industry is now facing full-scale collapse. The major manufacturers can’t compete in EV’s, and yet their existing products will be banned in just ten years for now. Autos account for 6 per cent of German GDP, and are estimated to account for 7 per cent of the EU’s entire output, with 13.8 million jobs dependent on the sector. If the companies can’t compete in EVs, and petrol cars are banned, they are simply going to disappear. It will be a fatal blow for the European economy, and one that may well plunge it into a full scale recession... If people want to buy them, that’s fine. The problem is that the market has been twisted by top-down quotas and targets imposed by bureaucrats and virtue-signalling politicians who don’t have a clue what they are doing. One by one, the dominos are now collapsing. In reality, it won’t be long before the whole insane scheme will have to be scrapped – it is just a shame that one of Europe’s largest and most important industries might be destroyed in the process."
Petrol ban has plunged Europe’s car industry into crisis, says Mercedes boss - "A looming ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars has plunged Europe’s car industry into crisis, the boss of Mercedes-Benz has warned. Ola Kallenius has urged Brussels to urgently review the policy to avoid the sector’s collapse, as he said carmakers are facing their bleakest-ever outlook. As well as the upcoming 2035 ban across the Continent, European carmakers are also battling Donald Trump’s tariffs and heightened competition from cheaper Chinese rivals... His comments echo those of German rival BMW, which has also argued that the 2035 ban should be delayed. Oliver Zipse, BMW’s chief executive, said in October that the date was “no longer realistic” and could “threaten the European automotive industry in its heart [leading] to a massive shrinking of the industry as a whole”. The latest intervention will no doubt also raise questions for the Labour Government, which reinstated the UK’s 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol cars after coming to power. Weak demand for electric cars has already fuelled job losses across some of Britain’s biggest manufacturers, including at Vauxhall owner Stellantis and Ford... Chinese brands now collectively outsell Mercedes in Europe."
Lithium supplies will not keep up with demand for electric cars, experts warn - "Europe, the US and China will be unable to extract enough lithium domestically to meet their demands for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, according to a study. Researchers from East China Normal University in Shanghai and Sweden’s Lund University described this as a “looming crisis” that could cause “delays in meeting critical climate and energy goals”. They warned that domestic lithium production could grow as much as 10 times in some areas of Europe, the US and China by 2030 but still fall short of the “soaring demand” without technological innovations or increasing imports."
Clearly, the solution will be to continue to ban non-electric vehicles, so the peasants will have to go without
I Switched from an Electric Car Back to Gas—Here's What I Learned - "When I first got my electric car two years ago, I was convinced that range anxiety was just a myth perpetuated by gas car loyalists. Boy, was I wrong. The deep dive into tomorrow's gas station network estimates that drivers can successfully recharge their cars using non-residential EV equipment only 78% of the time, highlighting critical issues with reliability. I found myself constantly checking battery levels, planning routes around charging stations, and feeling genuine stress when my range dropped below 50 miles. The freedom I once felt driving anywhere, anytime, was replaced by this constant mental math about whether I'd make it to my destination. Even short weekend trips required extensive planning, and spontaneous road trips became a thing of the past. That carefree feeling of just jumping in the car and going wherever the road takes you? It vanished completely. In the U.S., 60% of urban residents live less than a mile from the nearest public charger, compared to 41% of suburban residents and 17% of rural residents. As someone living in a suburban area, finding a working charger became a regular headache. With one public port for every 29 EVs, California, which has the highest rate of EV purchases, ranks 49th among states in the ports-to-drivers ratio. Even when I found charging stations, about a quarter of them were either broken, occupied, or painfully slow. I lost count of how many times I arrived at a charging station only to find it out of order or incompatible with my car's charging port. National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that by 2030 there will be 33 million EVs on the road and 28 million EV charging ports will be needed to support them. The infrastructure simply isn't there yet, and waiting for it to catch up felt like being a beta tester for someone else's future. Everyone talks about how cheap electricity is compared to gas, but nobody warned me about peak-hour rates and demand charges. My monthly electric bill jumped from around $120 to nearly $280 during summer months when I was charging at home... The installation of a Level 2 home charger also cost me $1,800, including electrical work that required upgrading my home's panel. When I factored in these costs, the savings I thought I'd get from "cheap electricity" were largely wiped out. It became clear that the math only works if you have access to really cheap electricity rates, which many Americans simply don't have. After 18 months, I started noticing that my car's range wasn't what it used to be. A new 2024 analysis reveals a significant improvement: EV batteries now degrade at an average of 1.8% per year. While that might sound minimal, it meant my already-limited 250-mile range was dropping to around 230 miles on a full charge. A 5 percent battery degradation could equal 20 miles of range. Oddly enough, the battery only degraded another 5 percent during the next 100,000 miles. The knowledge that this expensive battery pack would only get worse over time was unsettling. In fact, many automakers suggest drivers and fleet managers limit the use of DC fast charging to prolong their electric vehicles' battery life. This created a catch-22: I needed fast charging for longer trips, but using it was slowly killing my battery's longevity. Nobody prepared me for how much cold weather would affect my EV's performance. During winter months, my range dropped by 30-40%, turning my advertised 250-mile range into a real-world 150-175 miles. As shown in Figure 4, EVs in hot climates experience a faster rate of battery decline. The heater drained the battery faster than I ever imagined, and I found myself driving with minimal heat to preserve range... The anxiety of potentially getting stranded in freezing temperatures because my battery died was something I never experienced with a gas car that could warm up in minutes. Beyond the obvious purchase price difference, owning an EV came with unexpected expenses that nobody talks about. Insurance: EV insurance is 15% higher due to specialized parts. My insurance premiums increased significantly due to the specialized parts and limited repair network. A quick look at the numbers and it's clear that EVs depreciate quicker than their gas counterparts. Cari Crane, Director of Insights at ALG (which used to be known as Auto Lease Guide), told us that the high cost of electric vehicles contributes to their steeper depreciation. When a small fender-bender required body work, I discovered that only certain shops could work on EVs, and parts took weeks to arrive. The rapid depreciation also meant my car was losing value faster than comparable gas vehicles, making me worry about being underwater on my loan. While home charging seemed reasonable, public charging networks were price gougers in disguise... DC fast charging sessions often cost $20-30 for maybe 200 miles of range, making it more expensive per mile than premium gasoline... When I moved to a new apartment complex during my EV ownership, I discovered how difficult charging became without a dedicated home setup. For example, in the US, just 48% of people have access to off-street parking where a charger could be installed. My new place didn't have assigned parking, let alone charging infrastructure, which meant I was entirely dependent on public charging networks. For those who rent or live in a townhouse or condominium where installing an at-home charger isn't feasible, owning an electric vehicle comes with more challenges for this reason. Charging became a weekly chore that took 2-3 hours of my time, sitting in parking lots waiting for my car to charge enough to get through the week. The convenience factor that made cars so appealing in the first place was completely eliminated. I started to realize that EV ownership really only makes sense if you have a house with a garage – a luxury many Americans, especially younger buyers, simply don't have. My EV was packed with technology, but much of it felt like it was still in beta testing. Software updates sometimes broke features that were working fine before, and the infotainment system was sluggish and unintuitive. "Once you turn someone off, it's a lot harder to get them back," said Ivan Drury, Edmunds director of insights. "Their experience is already mired in negativity."... When I finally traded in my EV for a hybrid gas vehicle, the difference in daily stress was immediate and dramatic. Nearly 30% of electric vehicle owners globally are likely to switch back to internal combustion engine cars, according to a recent McKinsey global consumer survey, with U.S. EV owners even more likely to switch back to ICEs. A study from Edmunds found that in Q2 2024, just under 40% of EVs utilized as a trade-in were used to purchase or lease a new ICE vehicle... Nearly half of American owners of electric cars want to switch back to traditional cars powered by internal combustion engines, according to a consumer survey released by McKinsey and Co. earlier this month. Filling up took five minutes instead of 45 minutes to several hours, and I could drive anywhere in the country without a second thought. The freedom to be spontaneous returned, and I could finally take those weekend road trips that I'd been avoiding. The relief was so immediate that I wondered why I'd put myself through the EV experience for so long."
I Bought an EV: 5 Expenses I Wasn’t Prepared For - "Tires Wear Out Much Faster
Unpredictable Public Charging Costs... “In California, the cost to fill up a tank of gas is about the same cost I see to ‘fill up‘ my battery,” Griswold noted.
Charger Installation
Insurance and Registration
Battery Replacement Worries"
Electric cars 'break down more often', reveal both What Car? and the AA - "Electric vehicles break down and leave drivers stranded at the roadside more often than their petrol and diesel engine equivalents, owners reveal. Of the 30,000 drivers who completed What Car’s latest Reliability Survey over the past two years, one in ten (10.9 per cent) said their motor had suffered a fault that rendered it undrivable... Of the battery car drivers who filled in the survey, 16.8 per cent said their car had broken down in the last 24 months. That compares to just 10.7 per cent of petrol car owners. Hybrids (14.1 per cent) and diesels (15.4 per cent) too had a statistically lower rate of breakdowns, the report said. And it also went on to show that when electric cars do suffer issues, they are less likely to be repaired at the roadside by a breakdown patrols, meaning drivers cannot continue on their journeys. The report comes in the wake of AA bosses claiming that EV breakdowns are more common despite a general misconception that they are more reliable because they have fewer moving parts than a traditional car... Unsurprisingly, EVs were the fuel type most commonly transported (because they can't be towed due to the risk of damage to the e-motors if the driven wheels are rotated) to garages for repairs... The report comes just days after bosses at the AA reported that it is attending a higher share of electric car breakdowns that petrols and diesels. Jakob Pfaudler, CEO at the breakdown service provider, said EVs are prone not only to punctures and flat batteries like all cars with internal combustion engines, but also to a host of problems relating specifically to electric models, including jammed charging cables and technical glitches."
This makes it even more important to ban non-electric cars, or people won't choose them
European electric car market suffers ‘devastating’ collapse - "Falling electric vehicle (EV) sales in Germany dealt a “devastating” blow to the European market last year, as Chinese carmakers powered ahead of rivals in the West. The number of EVs sold across Europe fell by 3pc to 3m during 2024, according to data from analysis firm Rho Motion. This came after the withdrawal of government tax breaks triggered a collapse in sales across Germany... the removal of subsidies in Germany “had a devastating impact on the whole European market”. Alluding to threats by US president-elect Donald Trump to take a similar decision, Mr Lester added: “If the US follows suit, we may see the same there.”"
Left wingers will continue mocking Tesla for declining sales
Opinion: The EV fantasy is running out of juice fast - "In 2023, the Quebec government pledged $2.9 billion in financing to secure a deal with Swedish EV manufacturer Northvolt . Ottawa committed $1.34 billion to build the plant and another $3-billion worth of incentives. So far, per the CBC , the Quebec government has “invested $270 million in the project and the provincial pension investor, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), has also invested $200 million.” In 2024, Northvolt declared bankruptcy in Sweden, throwing its Canadian plans into limbo . Last month, the same Quebec government announced it will not rescue Lion Electric from its financial distress, which became obvious in December 2024 when the company filed for creditor protection (again, well before the tariff war). According to the Bloomberg report , “Lion thrived during the electric vehicle boom, reaching a market capitalization of US$4.2 billion in 2021 and growing to 1,400 employees the next year. Then the market for electric vehicles went through a tough period, and it became far more difficult for manufacturers to raise capital.” The Quebec government had already lost $177 million on investments in Lion, and the federal government $30 million, by the time the company filed for creditor protection. Last year, Ford delayed production of an electric SUV at its Oakville plant and Umicore halted spending on a $2.8-billion battery materials plant in eastern Ontario. In April, General Motors announced it will close the CAMI electric van assembly plant in Ontario, with plans to reopen in the fall at half-capacity to “align production schedules with current demand.” It has also temporarily laid off hundreds of workers at its Ingersoll, Ontario, plant that produces an electric delivery vehicle that it isn’t selling as well as hoped. Still more examples of EV fizzle also predate the tariff war. Government “investments” in Stellantis and LG Energy Solution and Ford Motor Company have fallen flat and dissolved, been paused or remain in limbo. And projects for Canada’s EV supply chain remain years away from production. “Of the four multibillion-dollar battery cell manufacturing plants announced for Canada,” automotive reporter Gabriel Friedman wrote in these pages in January, “only one … (has) progressed into even the construction phase.” What’s the moral of the story? Once again, the fevered dreams of government planners who seek to pick winning technologies in a major economic sector have proven to be just that, fevered dreams. In 2025, some 125 years since consumers first had a choice of electric vehicles or internal combustion vehicles (ICE), the ICE vehicles are still winning in economically-free markets. Without massive government subsidies to EVs, there would be no contest at all. It would be ICE by a landslide. In the face of this reality, the new federal government should terminate any programs that try to force EV technologies into the marketplace, and rescind plans to have all new light-duty vehicle sales be EVs by 2035. It’s just not going to happen, and planning for a fantasy is neither sound government policy nor sound use of taxpayer money."
EV mandate risks being next carbon tax, EV industry warns - "The head of a national association representing the electric transportation industry says the federal government, and provinces with a zero-emission vehicle sales mandate, should make “short-term adjustments” to their programs at the risk of the policy going the way of the now-cancelled consumer carbon tax. Electric Mobility Canada President Daniel Breton’s comments come as auto-makers and others in the industry express a fresh round of concerns about the Liberals’ sales mandate, which has set a target of reaching 100-per-cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, beginning with initial targets of hitting 60 per cent by 2030 and at least 20 per cent by 2026... “Lowering the targets between now and 2030 would be a reasonable path.” With Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre ratcheting up his efforts in demanding that the mandate be scrapped, arguing it removes “choice” from consumers, Breton, a former Quebec environment minister, says the risk of not making short-term adjustments at the federal level is that, “this is going to become a political hot potato.” “Like the carbon tax was.”... While manufacturers have long expressed opposition to the government mandating the sale of electric vehicles, Ford Canada CEO Bev Goodman recently called for the regulation to be scrapped in light of falling sales of these vehicles. Back in March, Statistics Canada reported a nearly 45-per-cent drop in the sale of new zero-emission vehicles from the same month the year before. The agency reported in April that the sales of these vehicles fell to around 7.6 per cent. Leading automotive associations have pointed to these decreases as evidence that hitting the 20 per cent sales target is unrealistic and creates additional burden on Canada’s auto-sector at a time when it is dealing with a trade war with the U.S., which under President Donald Trump has dropped the electrification goals introduced by former president Joe Biden."
How ignorant. Doesn't he know that electric vehicles are the future?
Industry says environment minister won't relent on EV mandate - "Automakers calling on Ottawa to roll back its electric-vehicle mandate say their case has so far failed to sway Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin, who appears “committed” to keeping it in place... Since its introduction, the mandate has been challenged by a dramatic drop in sales from 2024, which proponents attribute to Ottawa’s decision earlier in the year to halt its purchase incentive, which it has committed to reintroduce, but with no firm timeline... Any changes the government might consider would take time to implement, he said, adding that there was “deep frustration” within the industry as it must decide how to meet the upcoming targets, with one option being to restrict sales of internal combustion engine vehicles... In a statement, a spokesperson for Dabrusin said the policy was implemented to give Canadians access “to affordable zero-emission vehicles to fight climate change with Canadian innovation.”"
Clearly, if vehicle manufacturers refuse to sell electric vehicles at lower prices, possibly below cost, they are greedy and responsible for not giving Canadians access to affordable zero-emission vehicles to fight climate change with Canadian innovation
Great apes threatened by mining for electric vehicle batteries | New Scientist
Pull plug on gas engine ban, Tories urge government - "polling conducted earlier this year suggests the majority of Canadians aren’t a fan of this keystone policy of the Justin Trudeau Liberals , which calls for a total ban on the sale of new gas and diesel vehicles by 2035... Environment Minister Julie Dabrusin accused the Tories of taking unfair aim at Canada’s auto industry... Canada’s auto industry have gone on record in their opposition to the Liberals’ plan, with Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association (CVMA) president Brian Kingston describing the Liberal policy earlier this year as “complete fantasy.” “There is no pathway to 100% zero-emission vehicle sales in the next 10 years with the supports being provided to Canadians,” he said during a January 2025 news conference. “Dictating what vehicles Canadians can and cannot buy, without providing them with the supports necessary to switch to electric is a made-in-Canada policy failure.”"
Canada needs to open up its electric vehicle market (aka "EVs aren’t being forced on Canadians — if anything, they’re being withheld from them")
I love the cope. Government quotas aren't forcing anyone to do anything
Carney pauses electric vehicle mandate, announces new 'buy Canadian' policy - "Carney also announced that Canada’s zero-emission vehicle sales mandate that was set to come into effect in 2026 will be delayed for a year while the government reviews the policy... He also announced a new “buy Canadian” policy that would require the federal government to use Canadian suppliers and require local content when there are no domestic suppliers available. The approach would extend to Crown corporations and “provide a roadmap” for provinces and municipalities to follow suit... "Now we need to use government procurement using Canadian taxpayer dollars to spur Canadian businesses for longer term prosperity to support Canadian industries,” Carney said. Carney’s announcement comes amid a sluggish Canadian economy that shed 66,000 jobs in August. Friday morning, new data showed Canada’s unemployment rate hit a nine-year high at 7.1 per cent last month. “This makes decisive action crucial,” Carney said of the new bleak unemployment numbers. Carney announced dozens of measures and billions of dollars-worth of new funds that would compel the federal government to prioritize Canadian suppliers in procurement, create a new $370-million biofuel production incentive and a $5 billion “Strategic Response Fund” to help tariff-impacted companies retool and retrain employees. Buried within the announcement is also a review of a series of controversial Justin Trudeau-era climate policies, including promising unspecified changes of the Clean Fuel Regulations. Mockingly branded the “carbon tax 2.0” by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, the regulation aim to boost innovation and adoption of green technologies and expand the use of low carbon intensity fuels."
More and more debt is not a problem, when you don't have to worry about how to pay for it and you can just blame the other party for it
