Canada Set To Mandate 20% EV Share Of New Car Sales By 2026

Canada will propose on Wednesday that one-fifth of all passenger cars, SUVs, and trucks sold in the country in 2026 be electric vehicles (EVs), The Canadian Press reports.

The target, part of new regulations by the Environment Ministry, is also expected to mandate that all passenger vehicles sold in Canada by 2035 need to be EVs. Another intermediate target is that by 2030, 60% of passenger car sales should be electric vehicles.  

Under the new regulations, vehicle manufacturers or importers could face fines under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act if they fail to meet the EV sales mandates.   

The Canadian government is developing a light-duty Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) sales mandate for new vehicle purchases, which will set annually increasing requirements towards achieving 100% ZEV sales by 2035, including interim targets of at least 20% by 2026 and at least 60% by 2030.

In terms of annual new ZEV sales, these targets would translate to around 395,000 new ZEV sales in 2026, a total of 1.2 million new ZEV sales in 2030, and 2 million new ZEV sales in 2035, the government says.

“Several federal, provincial, and territorial government actions are helping to drive this transition, including through ZEV and GHG emissions standards, purchase incentives, and investments in charging infrastructure,” according to the government.

The provinces of British Columbia and Quebec already have EV sales mandates. The new regulation will be nationwide.

Canada still has a long way to go to reach the first threshold of 20% EV sales by 2026.

Canada’s EV sales jumped by 30% year over year in the first half of 2022, but the country is lagging behind the other developed economies in terms of EV uptake. 

According to data cited by The Canadian Press, EV sales, including fully-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, accounted for only 7.2% of new car registrations in Canada in the first half of 2022. EV sales represented just 5.2% of all new car sales last year. 

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

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