CHARBONNEAU – Affordability is one of the keys to buying an electric vehicle

AFFORDABILITY is one of the keys to buying an electric vehicle but other barriers are growing.

I would buy an electric vehicle if the price was comparable to a gasoline one. Cheaper would be better.

British Columbians are keen on EVs. According to a poll commissioned by Clean Energy Canada, 53 per cent of us are inclined to buy one. That’s nearly twice the percentage of Albertans who would choose an EV.

Albertans are more inclined to buy a gas/diesel vehicle (72 per cent).

Politics plays a role in EV preference.

NDP and Liberal supporters are twice as likely to buy an EV as Conservatives (62, 55, and 30 per cent respectively).

I guess Albertan’s reasoning goes like this: since the push for EVs is coming from Ottawa, it must be bad. And since the province’s revenues depend on the burning of fossil fuels, it’s best to burn as much of the stuff as possible.

And another barrier is climate change fatigue. Polls reveal that Canadians are less worried about climate change than before; slipping from fourth to eighth of voter concerns in the 2025 federal election.

As a result of waning climate change concern, governments have reduced subsidies for EVs without much pushback.

As of May, the CleanBC Go Electric Passenger Vehicle Rebate program has been paused and excluded from Tesla products — including chargers, batteries, inverters, and vehicles.

To make matters more difficult in buying an EV, automakers want Canada to scrap the EV sales mandate.

The Trudeau government mandated that all new vehicles were to be emissions free by 2035. The mandate required that a certain percentage of light duty vehicles sold be either fully electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids, starting with 20 per cent in 2026.

Subsidies are a way of reducing greenhouse gases but I’m not sure I like paying for someone else to get one. My taxes go to subsidize purchases.

But I guess if someone else is paying for my purchase of an EV, that’s OK.

Canada’s major automakers recently met with Mark Carney to ask the federal government to repeal the mandate.

The president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association said that “the targets that have been established cannot be met” given current market forces.

Gas/diesel vehicles are a big contributor to climate change. Transportation is the second-biggest source of emissions in Canada after the oil and gas industry.

But Canadians are more concerned with loss of jobs and the threat to our economy due to tariffs.

If the mandate is scrapped, there will be fewer EVs for sale. That would make it harder for me to buy an EV.

Canada aligned itself with the Biden administration to place 100 per cent tariffs on all electric vehicles coming from China to combat the “unfair advantage” it has in the global marketplace.

That tariff is sure to be a bargaining chip in negotiations with the U.S.

Chinese cars sell for as little as $13,000 overseas.

Now that’s a price I can afford.

David Charbonneau is a retired TRU electronics instructor who hosts a blog at http://www.eyeviewkamloops.wordpress.com.