For the kind of money the federal and Ontario governments probably spent for a Volkswagen EV battery plant in southwestern Ontario, Canada might have been able to launch its own EV maker.
If electric cars are useful for the energy transition, they’re not without flaws and drawbacks and should not make us forget the need to reduce car use.
A study of 230 electric vehicles found only 25% of charging happens during peak demand periods. Their patterns of use also mean spare battery capacity could be fed into the grid at these times.
The final report in the IPCC’s sixth assessment series says countries will have to cut their greenhouse gas emissions 60% in the next 12 years to keep global warming in check.
The rest of the nation should follow the ACT’s lead. Incentives to boost the transition to electric vehicles are one of the best ways to tackle Australia’s fastest-growing source of emissions.
Canada’s zero-emissions vehicle sales target will need hundreds of thousands of EV charging points to be installed in homes, workplaces, retail spaces and along highway corridors in the coming years.
If the EV transition focuses exclusively on drivers in privately owned cars, it won’t meet many Americans’ mobility needs, particularly in underserved communities.
Known as parallel importing, importing goods directly from overseas suppliers lowers costs and increases supply, which is what Australia’s electric vehicle market needs to catch up with the world.
Converting to electric cars is going to take time. With transport being Australia’s fastest-growing source of emissions, action on all fronts – road, rail, sea and aviation – is needed.