TORONTO – Doug Ford is pitching Ontario as the next powerhouse in electric vehicle manufacturing, seemingly a long way from the prime minister who three years ago canceled incentives for people to buy them.
Where some see contradictions, others see a calculated electoral strategy.
Shortly after coming to power in 2018, the Ford administration removed Ontario’s cap-and-trade system, and with it the electric vehicle rebates funded by that program.
It also stopped building charging stations (the provincial transit agency even removed some) and removed the requirement that new homes include wiring for potential EV chargers.
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Ford at the time denounced rebates of up to $ 14,000 as purchase subsidies for wealthy buyers, and still does, for the most part.
“Before the election, I didn’t believe in giving millionaire rebates on Tesla cars over $ 100,000,” he said last month. “I just didn’t believe in it. Let’s see how the market dictates. “
In the year after the refund cancellations, Ontario’s electric vehicle market crashed. At their peak, electric vehicles accounted for about three percent of the province’s total passenger vehicle sales. That dropped to less than one percent after the refund was removed.
The introduction of a federal rebate caused Ontario’s electric vehicle sales to start climbing again. The most recent data from Statistics Canada brings the numbers back to almost where they were before the provincial cancellation.
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But that’s still well below levels seen in provinces with their own rebates, such as British Columbia and Quebec, which have EV sales of about 13 percent and 10 percent, respectively.
Proponents of electric vehicles say Ontario cannot be a leader in manufacturing while lagging behind in sales.
Joanna Kyriazis, Senior Policy Advisor for Clean Energy Canada, said a recently announced Ontario automotive strategy was more EV-friendly than she would have expected, but she misses the second half of the equation.
“I think there has been a recent shift in the Ford government’s view on electric vehicles, at least on the manufacturing side,” he said.
Ontario’s “Driving Prosperity” plan focuses on repositioning the province’s auto sector to build electric vehicles, as well as establishing battery production here, tapping into critical minerals found in the Ring of Fire. Its goal is to build at least 400,000 electric and hybrid vehicles by 2030.
Ontario has secured investments from big automakers like Ford and GM to build new electric vehicles at its facilities in the province in the coming years, and the prime minister is looking to attract more.
“Our government knows it and the auto industry knows it: Ontario is the number one place in the world to build the cars and trucks of the future,” Ford said when announcing the strategy last month.
There is a section on encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles, but it is mainly limited to establishing a Transport Electrification Council to seek advice on ways to do this. Without more work to boost domestic sales, most EVs eventually produced in Ontario would simply be shipped elsewhere, Kyriazis said.
“Producing more electric vehicles in Ontario will not directly translate into more electric vehicle sales in Ontario unless there is more support for consumers to go electric,” he said.
Acting on the manufacturing side but not the consumer side is contradictory, said Daniel Breton, president and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada.
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“If Ontario wants to be a leader, it is not a buffet where you pick and choose what you decide to do,” he said.
“Refunds make a difference. It doesn’t have to be $ 14,000, but if people see a decent refund or even a tax credit, I think it does make a difference, not just financially. Is there a social point of view that the government says? it’s really promoting the transition to electric vehicles. “
But the political goal of this government, strategists say, is to focus on jobs.
Ford is trying to secure manufacturing in regions like Oakville and Windsor, while liberals see the problem through an environmental and consumer lens, said Andrew Steele, vice president of consultancy StrategyCorp.
“If you see it like, ‘I need these kinds of jobs to stay here in Ontario, that’s my primary concern,’ you’ll spend time thinking of incentives to bring jobs here,” said Steele, a former senior liberal staff member.
“I think (Ford) is fuel agnostic. That’s where the market is going, so we have to get there looking for jobs. “
David Tarrant, Ford’s former executive director of strategic communications, said there is a “powerful story from start to finish” that Ford can tell about electric vehicle manufacturing in Ontario, starting with the critical minerals found in the Ring of Fire. .
It also gives Ford a chance, in the run-up to the June elections, to speak out about the loss of manufacturing jobs under the former Liberal government and its heavily criticized refunds that went to drivers of luxury electric vehicles, he said. .
“What we’re talking about is how Ontario, from the manufacturing side and the supply side, can really drive and support this kind of revolution in EVs, create a ton of jobs. rather than using Ontario taxpayer money to support the purchase of vehicles that were manufactured elsewhere, ”said Tarrant, now vice president of Enterprise, a strategic communications firm.
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Jeff Crumb and his family outside of Kitchener, Ontario, are looking for a new car and are turning to electric. He said the choice would be much easier if there was a provincial incentive to lower the purchase price.
“If there was a refund, it would be a no-brainer. We would do it immediately, ”he said.
An election promise from the Ontario Liberals caught Crumb’s attention, though he can’t wait to see the result of the June 2 vote before making his next car purchase.
The Liberals promise a rebate of up to $ 8,000 on electric vehicles that cost up to $ 55,000. The new Democrats promise unspecified rebates so far for non-luxury electric vehicles.
“When the price of an electric vehicle is, you know, $ 10, 15, or 20,000 more than a gasoline vehicle, the decision is really tough,” Crumb said.
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca