EV CHARGING

The cheaper, better solution

Younger Canadians are the most eager to adopt EVs, but many face barriers due to a lack of adequate charging options in apartment buildings, finds a new Clean Energy Canada report, Electrifying the Lot.

In Metro Vancouver, for instance, 77% of residents aged 20 to 44 are inclined to go electric, but 60% live in apartments. Unless access to EV charging in multi-unit buildings improves, this EV-enthusiastic group—many financially-stretched young families—will continue to be disproportionately locked out of the huge cost-savings of EV ownership compared to those living in detached homes with their own garages and driveways.

Thankfully, there are cost-saving solutions that governments can implement now, like changes to building codes, to avoid significantly more expensive retrofits later (more on this in our webinar later today). 

As Clean Energy Canada’s Joanna Kyriazis told the Toronto Star, improving apartment charging would not only help more Canadians reap the affordability and lifestyle benefits of driving electric, it’s also “one of the best ways” we can support Canada’s burgeoning, homegrown EV manufacturing industry.

Falling emissions

Canada recently released its latest official greenhouse gas inventory, which shows the country making tangible progress toward its climate goals. Though still far from where we need to be by the end of this decade, emissions in 2023 were more than 8% lower than they were in 2005 and the lowest level in nearly three decades (excluding the 2020 pandemic year). This progress has been largely driven by dramatic emissions reductions in the electricity sector (thanks to the phasing-out of coal power) as well as in heavy industry. Oilsands emissions, on the other hand, are soaring.

Ready to vote?

Prime Minister Mark Carney has called an election for April 28, kicking off what will be a short 36 days before Canadians decide at the polls which party they want to lead the country. As a recent National Observer op-ed points out, the climate stakes of this one are high. Canada’s long-term economic interests are riding on a successful transition to a clean economy. Fortunately, many Canadians likely realize this: a new poll from Leger and the David Suzuki Foundation finds that a majority want the next federal government to prioritize climate action (67%) and invest in renewables over fossil fuels (65%).

That other carbon price

The Conservative Party of Canada recently turned its attention to the industrial carbon price, saying they will scrap it if elected. But doing so would not only leave a big gap in Canada’s climate-change-fighting arsenal with minimal savings to gain, it would also undermine Canada’s efforts to export desirably clean products to places like the EU, where carbon-intensive goods will face higher import levies than clean ones, Clean Energy Canada’s Mark Zacharias told CTV.

Dangerous considerations

Of the provinces administering their own industrial carbon pricing systems instead of relying on the federal backstop, Canada’s oil and gas heartland has arguably developed one of the most sophisticated and cost-effective ones. But that system could now be at risk as Alberta considers scrapping it or altering it for the worse—potentially dealing yet another blow to its renewables industry while killing a “highly effective” emissions reduction policy, shows an illuminating new investigation by the Narwhal. 

Rebates return

Quebec drivers looking to go electric will be happy to learn that the province has extended its EV rebate program—which offers $4,000 for fully electric vehicles and $2,000 for plug-in hybrids—until January 2027. To date, the program has helped Quebeckers buy some 376,000 EVs and, along with a provincewide EV availability mandate and EV-readiness requirements in its building code, has made Quebec the country’s leading EV adopter. Meanwhile, Transport Canada has frozen its rebate payments to Tesla as it validates a rush of claims made during the final days of the federal rebate. The company also will not be eligible for future incentives “so long as the illegitimate and illegal U.S. tariffs are imposed against Canada.”

An ‘unstoppable’ boom

A new report from the International Renewable Energy Agency shows that global renewable energy installations hit a record high last year (15% more than in 2023), with 92.5% of all new electricity coming from clean sources like solar, hydro, and wind. Though more ambition and policies are required to triple renewables by 2030, a new study on Germany’s energy landscape finds that most of the country’s net subsidies to the renewables sector since 2000 have already been paid, while newer installations of ground-mounted solar and both offshore and onshore wind generate net profits.

Reality check

South Korea’s nuclear fleet has been generating record amounts of emissions-free power, with output exceeding that of coal, and of gas, for the first time while reducing fossil fuel imports (including LNG). This news from one of the world’s largest gas importers puts yet another crack in the rosy picture painted by B.C. LNG proponents that expanding LNG production in Canada would be an easy win.

Doing double-time

With their predictable schedules and big batteries, electric school buses across the U.S. are helping drive a doubling of bidirectional charging capacity in the country, finds new data from consultancy Wood Mackenzie. While it’s still early days for this technology, vehicle-to-everything has vast potential to boost grid flexibility and generate revenue for electric fleets all over the world.

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