Canada says all cars and trucks must be zero emission by 2035, industry unhappy (updated)

Hyundai

19/12/2023 17:14

(Adds comments by natural resources minister, reaction from
industry and background paragraphs 4-9)
    By David Ljunggren
       OTTAWA, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Canada on Tuesday released
final regulations mandating that all passenger cars, SUVs,
crossovers and light trucks sold by 2035 must be zero-emission
vehicles, part of the government's overall plan to combat
climate change.
    The new rules, known as the Electric Vehicle Availability
Standard, were first unveiled in 2021. They are designed to help
ensure supply is available to the market and shorten wait times
to get an electric vehicle (EV).
    Under interim targets set by Ottawa, zero-emission vehicles
must make up at least 20% of all cars sold by 2026 and at least
60% by 2030. Industry officials say EVs represented 12.1% of new
vehicle sales in the third quarter of 2023.
    "Zero-emission vehicles are an essential component of
Canada's low-carbon future," Natural Resources Minister Jonathan
Wilkinson said in a statement. Transportation accounts for about
22% of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. 
        The rules are similar to those adopted by California,
which says 100% of new cars sold in 2035 must be plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles (PHEV), EVs or powered by hydrogen fuel cell.
A total of 17 U.S. states have agreed to adopt the regulations.
  
        Global EV sales now make up about 13% of all vehicle
sales and are likely to rise to between 40%-45% of the market by
the end of the decade, according to the 
    Paris-based International Energy Agency.
  
        The Canadian automobile industry says the regulations
are too ambitious, noting the higher cost of electric vehicles
and the fact the charging network is incomplete, especially in
rural areas. Canada, the world's second largest country, has a
population of just 40 million people.
  
        "Regulating Canadians to buy EVs they can't afford, or
charge, will be a made-in-Canada policy failure," Tim Reuss,
president of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, told
reporters last Friday.
  
        In an effort to address complaints that EVs are
impractical in remote and northern areas, where cold conditions
can cut the efficiency of batteries, PHEVs with an all-electric
range of 80 km or more will remain eligible for sale in 2035 and
beyond.
  

 (Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by David Gregorio)
 ((david.ljunggren@tr.com; +1 647 480 7891;))