BuyAmerican ? Buy Canadian ! Concerned about the impact that the clauses just adopted by the United States favoring domestic supply of their transport sector could have on its growth, the Quebec electric vehicle industry is asking Quebec and Ottawa to act. His wish: a strengthened strategy to accelerate electrification in Canada.
This strategy could be inspired by theInflation Reduction Act (IRA) proposed at the end of last year by US President Joe Biden and whose several provisions intended to accelerate the electrification of transport in the United States came into force at the beginning of 2023. This was proposed Monday morning by the CEO of Propulsion Québec, Sarah Houde.
The organization that represents Quebec’s electric and innovative transportation sector is bringing together some 1,200 electric transportation representatives from here, Europe and Asia for three days in Montreal. With a curtain-raiser address early Monday morning by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, it was a great opportunity to get the message across to the federal government.
“We need a national green industrial strategy, a Inflation Reduction Act Canadian,” asked Sarah Houde on stage, just before Prime Minister Trudeau in turn praised the advances made by Canada in the supply of batteries for electric vehicles.
Volkswagen in Ontario: it’s confirmed
Both Justin Trudeau and the Quebec Minister of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change Benoit Charette, who followed him on the microphone, recalled the importance of decarbonizing transport in achieving gas reduction objectives. greenhouse effect in Quebec and Canada. They congratulated each other on offering consumers help with the purchase of light electric vehicles, nothing more.
It was Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne who reacted to Propulsion Québec’s proposal. The confirmation of Volkswagen’s installation of a major battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont., is proof that Canada can do well despite U.S. protectionism, he said, in essence.
“This is an important vote of confidence in Canada and Ontario and in our joint efforts to make the country and the province global leaders in the electric vehicle supply chain.” , said Minister Champagne.
According to some sources, the March 28 release of the federal budget should reveal more about how Ottawa plans to help the electric vehicle industry in response to the US IRA.
A boom to be supported
To support its request, Propulsion Québec refers to a plan to accelerate the development of sustainable transportation that the organization published last June. This plan, which is presented as “a real industrial policy”, is the result of a consultation with 200 representatives of the Quebec zero-emission transport sector.
It is divided into eight major themes. These concern both the training of local expertise capable of designing, testing and marketing green technologies suitable for transport, and the strengthening of the battery sector which is slowly but surely being created in the region of Becancour. Better access to capital to finance large-scale investments is another wish expressed through this action plan.
To convince the governments of Quebec and Canada to accede to its demands, Propulsion Quebec indicates that the industry it represents is already experiencing strong growth: the electric transport industry has more than 9,000 employees in Quebec and its turnover Business has tripled since 2020. It is four times higher than that of the Quebec video game industry.
Grant of up to US$40,000
Slowed down by a scarcity of available zero-emission vehicles, the electrification of transportation is taking on the global feel of a race in which the countries that offer the most generous purchase assistance quickly take the lead. In this game, the United States scored a big blow by adopting two purchase credits which, depending on the size of the vehicle, amount to US$7,500 and US$40,000.
Rather generous, this measure makes electric commercial vehicles in particular as affordable as thermal engine vehicles. It should convince companies with a large fleet of vehicles, such as delivery companies, to switch to electric and hydrogen as soon as possible.
However, this assistance has at least two limits: between 50 and 100% of the materials making up the batteries of eligible vehicles must have been manufactured in North America. Between 40 and 80% of the minerals in their composition must also be of North American origin.
Added to this are measures taken earlier by Washington to promote the purchase of vehicles assembled in the United States. President Biden’s goal is to create an independent supply chain of Chinese suppliers, which currently produce the lion’s share of electric vehicle parts. According to the White House, this resulted in promises of investment in the United States of more than US$100 billion by the various players in electric transport.