British Columbia is phasing out fuel-powered cars and trucks with a total ban coming into effect in 2040.
“We will work with the United States to harmonize fuel efficiency regulations and we’re investing in consumer rebates, charging stations, business tax breaks and industry transition costs,” Wilkinson added.
Trudeau, 49, has pledged to put Canada, the second-largest country by land mass in the world, on a path to net-zero emissions by 2050. Shifting transportation away from fossil fuels is key to meeting that goal.
Canadians broadly support fighting climate change, and Trudeau is expected to trigger an election as soon as September to rid himself of his dependence on opposition support in a minority parliament.
“Canada cannot reach our greenhouse gas targets if emissions from cars, SUVs and pickups, which are currently growing, are not curtailed,” said Keith Brooks, programs director at advocacy group Environmental Defence, who welcomed the move.
Brooks said only 3.5% of vehicles now sold in Canada are electric and that the government needs to do more to support the market for zero-emissions vehicles.
There will have to marked improvements in cold weather condition performance for EV’s to be able to replace petrol. And has anyone else noticed their electrical bills getting absurdly high already? What’s going to happen when we plug in our electron guzzler?
A gentleman I work with commutes from Niagara Falls to Oakville in a hybrid Ford C-Max, he claims that his monthly hydro bill only went up $30/month! I’m not sure how much fuel he purchases on top of that but for that same commute I am buying aprox. $100 to $120/ week in gas so I became VERY interested in hearing this. I’m going to talk with others and see if similar results are the norm.
There’s no such thing as zero emissions. You can not use energy without emitting something. They just don’t know what that will be yet or what effect it will have on us or the environment. For myself, I feel we’ve made so much progress in containing the emissions from gasoline engines, the evil we know trumps the evil we don’t know.
Can’t stay stagnant, you gotta keep moving the technology forward
’57 Ford is starting to look like a really a good investment!