The federal government is promising to spend close to $880 million over the next four years to build about 65,000 new charging stations for electric or fuel cell-powered passenger vehicles.
But an industry group representing some of Canada’s biggest automakers says Canada needs to be building millions of stations.
Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association, said a national electric-charging network needs years of careful planning to ensure the charging stations are available when and where people need them.
“We haven’t done the planning and we haven’t put the investment into a charging network,” he said.
Why a charging station network is needed
Canada is mandating EV sales — 50 per cent of new cars sold in 2030 must be emissions-free, growing to 100 per cent in 2035 — but nobody is taking the lead to make sure people know what that means in terms of how much electricity, or how many charging stations, will be needed, said Kingston.
The association represents three of Canada’s biggest automakers — Ford, GM and the new multinational Stellantis, formed earlier this year in a merger that now represents brands such as Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler.
Kingston said automakers are committed to the transition to electric — the three companies the association represents are investing $100 billion US in electrification over the next few years, with plans to bring 120 new EV models to the market.
But he said new models and more supply would solve only one piece of the electric transition, because if the charging networks don’t keep pace, people aren’t going to make the switch.
Or, even worse, they’re going to switch back, he said.
The president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association says while Canada is planning EV sales mandates, the country has not figured out how much electricity and how many charging stations will be needed. (Doug Ives/The Canadian Press)
What happens if enough chargers aren’t built
A study published in the journal Nature Energy last spring said as many as one in five zero-emission vehicle owners went back to gas because of inconvenient charging access.
“So I just use that as a caution to government that, you know, we better start planning this like tomorrow,” he said.
He argues Canada hasn’t done the planning and instead has a fractured response, with very low ambitions, compared to the rest of the world.
Canada currently has about 15,000 public or semi-private chargers available, and at least another 2,000 are in various stages of construction with public funding. Natural Resources Canada has another $180 million in the existing budget to build 17,000 or so more in the next three years.
The Liberals promised to spend another $700 million by 2026 to build an additional 50,000 new ones.
Canada currently has 15,000 public or semi-private charging stations. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
How Canada compares with other countries
Kingston said to keep pace with Europe’s goal of having one public charger for every 10 EVs, Canada will need almost four million chargers by 2050. To get to California’s goal of one for every seven vehicles, that’s closer to six million needed in Canada.
An analysis done for Natural Resources Canada recently suggested Canada will need, on average, one charger for every 20 EVs by 2025, and after more EVs roll on to streets, the ratio would fall to about one in every 49 vehicles by 2050.
“It’s obvious that we don’t have an ambitious enough plan to build charging infrastructure,” Kingston said, adding overbuilding is needed at first to encourage EV adoption.
The Natural Resources analysis also notes that longer term, it’s more likely that public chargers will need to be high-speed, capable of recharging a car in less than an hour.
The International Energy Agency said this year Canada has about 0.06 publicly available chargers for every EV on the road, ranking about 20th in the world, neck and neck with the United States as a whole.
In November, an Ernst and Young analysis of the EV readiness of the world’s 10 biggest auto markets said Canada was in the bottom three, largely because of low demand and a lacklustre charging system. China is on top, followed by Sweden and Germany.
Wilf Steimle, president of the Electric Vehicle Society, said charging is one of the biggest concerns raised by people thinking about making the switch.
“What owners care about is: By the time I’ve gone to the bathroom, and grab another cup of coffee, is my car ready to go. Because I don’t want to stand there waiting for it for half an hour or so,” he said.
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
