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Several automakers are pulling back on plans to expand the amount of electric vehicles they produce in response to slowing sales that aren't expected to hit previous forecasts.
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British Columbians pondering a switch to an electric vehicle would need to drive almost double the daily distance of an average motorist to break even, according to a study by University of B.C. researchers.
The study, published in the most recent edition of the journal Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, set out to determine how long it would take a driver to recoup the higher up-front cost of buying a new electric vehicle (EV).
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A rocky road tripThe federal government has regulated that by 2035, all new vehicles sold must be electric.
According to data from Natural Resources Canada, in the first three months of 2023, about one out of every eight new cars purchased was electric. At present, more than 26,000 public EV charging stations have been installed across Canada.
But George Iny, director at the Automobile Protection Association, stressed that adequate charging infrastructure must be in place to ensure a smooth transition to a zero-emission future.
Right now, "it's still so buggy," he said. "And poorly co-ordinated and poorly standardized."
Maryann Abela can relate. Last summer, she and her family were travelling in their new Nissan Leaf from London to Lion's Head, Ont., a 253-kilometre distance that should have taken them a little over three hours to drive.
Maryann Abela plugs in her electric vehicle to charge at home. (Charlsie Agro/CBC)
The Leaf's range is 342 km, but given the car wasn't fully charged, they were prepared to stop to charge along the way. Abela planned ahead, googling the locations of fast chargers along the route, never anticipating that none of them would be operational.
"We had no idea [charging] would be that hit-or-miss," said Abela.
After striking out at four rapid-charging locations, she found herself stranded in a seedy motel with her young daughter while her husband slept in their Leaf as it slow-charged in an empty parking lot overnight.
"The reliability has to be improved," said Abela. "These companies that install the chargers need to be held accountable for maintaining them and making sure that they're working … it has to be working 24/7, because people are relying on it." |
