Tag Archives: Electric Vehicles

Transportation

Poll: 35% of Canadians open to buying a Chinese EV, just 1 in 5 see them as inferior

By Trevor Melanson, Clean Energy Canada

Chinese electric vehicles are coming to Canada, if only a limited quota of them, and they could be met with a flurry of willing buyers, according to a new survey from Abacus Data and Clean Energy Canada. 

More than two-thirds (35%) of Canadians are open to buying a Chinese EV. And among the 50% of Canadians who are open to buying an EV generally, 70% express varying levels of interest in getting a Chinese one.

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Transportation

Ottawa’s weak EV targets could stall BC’s transition

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

BC is squandering its electric vehicle advantage by rolling back ambitious targets to match Ottawa’s slower pace, experts warn.

It’s “counterintuitive” for BC — which still commands a zero-emission electric vehicle (ZEV) market share of nearly 20 per cent even during a sluggish sales year — to yoke itself to national targets that accommodate slower markets like Saskatchewan, said Richard Ivity, board chair of the national Electric Vehicle Society.

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Environment, Politics

Conservative platform is ‘flipping the bird’ at climate change, expert suggests

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

The Conservative Party’s election platform claims that repealing a slew of climate policies and resource regulations will generate billions in revenue for the federal government.

This platform is “flipping the bird to climate change,” said Ryan Katz-Rosene, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Ottawa, in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer.

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Politics

Carney’s cabinet selections clarify climate priorities before upcoming election

By John Woodside, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

With an election widely expected to be around the corner, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s  choice of cabinet ministers reveals his approach to this tense political  moment, observers say. 

For voters who  care about climate, the headline is that former Environment and Climate  Change Minister Steven Guilbeault, the longtime environmental activist  who has frequently drawn the ire of conservatives and the fossil fuel  industry, has been shuffled to a new far less controversial role. No  longer overseeing policies aimed at slashing emissions, from the carbon  price to oil and gas emissions cap, he will now serve as Carney’s Quebec  Lieutenant — the government’s leading voice in Quebec — as well as  Minister of Parks Canada and Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity. 

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Energy

Busting myths about BC’s coming electrification

According to some estimates, BC would have to double its electrical output if everyone switched to electric vehicles by 2035. Others talk about blackouts and rolling brownouts if we don’t back renewables up with LNG or nuclear power. Clean Energy Canada has just released a report that claims this is not true, the province’s electricity grid can handle the increased demand from EVs, heat pumps and extreme weather events, while electricity trading keeps energy bills low.

“Over the last year or two, we’ve been seeing quite a bit of incorrect information on BC’s electricity system.  It’s being circulated and reiterated in the media. The purpose of this report was to do some myth busting and do some deep dives into the actual data to figure out what trends are actually happening,” explained Mark Zacharias, Executive Director of Clean Energy Canada. 

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