Quebec’s target for electric vehicles is too low, environment group says

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The Legault government lacks ambition in its attempts to wean Quebecers off gasoline-powered vehicles and has set the bar too low when it comes to introducing more electric vehicles onto the provinces highways, the environmental group Equiterre contends.

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The group thinks objectives recently announced by Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette dont go far enough, particularly when it comes to penalizing those who continue to drive gas-guzzling vehicles.

In a brief obtained by the Presse Canadienne, quiterre calls for a ban on the sale of gasoline powered vehicles to go into effect in 2030 rather than the announced deadline of 2035 and wants the number of electric-powered vehicles to be increased.

The provincial governments proposed zero-emission vehicle standard would call for 12.5 per cent of new vehicles sold in 2025 to be electric, an increase of about one per cent annually compared with a target of nine per cent of electric vehicles to be sold in the autumn of 2021. The enforcement of the standard would not be felt until 2029.

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quiterre argues that is far from enough, considering that Quebec is committed by several international agreements to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 37.5 per cent. The group argues that if the province does not exhibit a demand for electric vehicles, manufacturers will simply build them elsewhere.

quiterre proposes a bonus system that would see the buyers of gas-guzzlers pay an additional sum for their vehicle. That money would then be redirected to a fund that would provide financing for those who buy electric vehicles.

Recent reports indicate a spike in the purchase of electric vehicles over the past few weeks because of the punishing increase in the pump price of gasoline.

Charette has said it would be unrealistic to ban the sale of gasoline-fuelled cars in 2030 rather than 2035 because there is a risk there would be an insufficient supply of electric vehicles to meet the demand of the Quebec market.