The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) today released a report analyzing how the relative ownership costs of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles will need to be adjusted to meet the ZEV sales targets set by Canada’s Electric Vehicle Availability Standard by 2030.
Under this standard, released by Environment and Climate Change Canada in December 2023, ZEV sales targets are set at 20% in 2026, 60% in 2030 and 100% in 2035.
“Based on our modelling, significant adjustments to domestic market conditions are required to meet the annual ZEV sales targets,” said PBO Yves Giroux. “According to our estimates, in order to induce a change in consumer behaviour to reach the 2030 target, the relative cost of owning a ZEV compared to ICE vehicles will have to drop by 31% compared to its expected cost in 2030 without the standard.”
We anticipate that achieving the ZEV sales targets will lead to an increase in public charging infrastructure, with an increase in Level 2 and Level 3 (fast) charging stations by 33,900 and 4,700 units respectively, compared to the levels expected in 2030 without the standard. However, this supply of public charging stations would be slightly below the estimated needs for 2030, according to a study commissioned by Natural Resources Canada.