(Quebec) The Legault government lacks ambition in its green shift: it will not require enough electric vehicles for the Quebec market.
Posted at 6:18 a.m.
This is the conclusion of Équiterre, which criticizes the new standard proposed by the Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette. The environmental organization asks in particular that we penalize more financially the buyers of energy-intensive vehicles.
In a brief obtained by The Canadian Press, Équiterre calls for a ban on the sale of gasoline-powered vehicles by 2030 instead of the current target of 2035, but also demands that manufacturers sell more electric vehicles in Quebec by the.
The government’s proposed new zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) standard would require 12.5% of new vehicles sold in 2025 to be electric, an increase of around 1% per year, compared to the 9.5% of vehicles electric cars sold in the fall of 2021. The tightening of the standard will not be felt until 2029.
In Équiterre’s opinion, this is far from enough, considering that Quebec has committed under international agreements to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 37.5%.
In addition, according to the organization, if Quebec does not require more electric vehicles, manufacturers will sell them in other markets.
Équiterre proposes the implementation of a self-funded “bonus-malus” royalty system, according to which an additional royalty would be demanded from buyers of an energy-intensive vehicle, which would finance a rebate for buyers of electric vehicles.
Quebec’s objectives for low-GHG emission vehicles are currently so lax that major manufacturers could have afforded to stop selling any electric vehicles between February 2021 and September 2022, concluded a report reported by The Canadian Press. last year.
News reports have pointed to a surge in sales of electric vehicles in recent weeks, due to the drastic rise in the price of a liter of gasoline.
The Minister of the Environment, Benoit Charette, had already hinted that it was unrealistic to ban the sale of gasoline vehicles in 2030 rather than 2035. According to him, there may not be enough electric vehicles in 2030 to meet the demand of the Quebec market.