The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development has called for creating a ZEV mandate. This zero-emission vehicle standard is part of the list of 13 recommendations coming out of the committee.
The ZEV mandate could come in different forms, but it is designed to create vehicle producers’ requirements. This could include mandatory minimums of ZEVs by major car brands. Additionally, it could include a sliding scale to increase the minimum over time.
Currently, ZEV’s have not made a significant market impact, except in provinces like British Columbia and Quebec that have additional provincial incentives.
This national strategy could assist ZEV’s coming into the market in the rest of the country.
However, the government of the day may not take up a ZEV mandate. The mandate has strong opposition from Canadian automotive manufactures and associations. With a pending election in mind, the Liberal government may not risk votes in the golden horseshoe due to this mandate.
It will be interesting to see if the Liberal government is a policy driver or lags behind ZEV‘s moving into 2021 and beyond.
You can read the full 56-page report here.
