Recommendations for a national sales mandate for zero-emission light-duty vehicles - Pembina Institute comments and recommendations

We urge the federal government to finalize its regulation in fall 2023 to give industry, businesses and investors the regulatory certainty needed to rapidly scale up the adoption and production of electric light-duty vehicles in Canada. [...] Bringing in an LDV sales mandate to boost the domestic supply of electric passenger vehicles will result in over $90 billion in health cost savings, including the avoidance of 11,000 premature deaths.9 How to approach the transition to ZEVs A ZEV sales mandate, instituting a quota for ZEVs sold in the Canadian market, is the single most effective policy tool for increasing the supply of EVs for Ca. [...] The regional under-supply of ZEVs, and the challenges of driving electric vehicles in northern and remote communities, potentially jeopardize a fair and equitable transition to ZEVs in Canada. [...] Markets leading in ZEV infrastructure development have pursued investment in increasing the number of charging and refuelling stations in conjunction with establishing protocols to enhance the standardization, interoperability, reliability and locational coverage of infrastructure.25 Integrating the provision of infrastructure within a sales mandate has not been proven to be an effective mechanism. [...] We urge the federal government to finalize the regulations including the four recommendations outlined above in the next six months to ensure that regulated parties have sufficient certainty to begin planning for the 2026 implementation of the mandate.