The Quebec government has unveiled plans to invest $514 million over the next five years to install an additional 116,000 public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across the province.
The significant investment, announced today by Premier François Legault and Environment Minister Benoit Charette, aligns with the province’s goal of having two million electric cars on the province’s roads by 2030. The new $514 million investment is in addition to the $249.3 million already allocated to EV charging infrastructure, setting a solid foundation for the province’s intention to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035.
According to the government, the new funding will go towards the installation of 110,000 Level 2 chargers and 6,700 DC fast chargers. This will signficantly expand the province’s existing network, which boasts over 4,500 charging stations, including 800 DC fast chargers.
À Jonquière pour annoncer la 1ère Stratégie de recharge des véhicules électriques, un investissement de 514 M$. On a besoin d’un réseau de bornes de recharge plus accessible et plus disponible partout sur le territoire pour décarboner et atteindre nos cibles. pic.twitter.com/wuWWcKUBef
— François Legault (@francoislegault) September 7, 2023
However, Legault clarified during the press conference that this initiative does not involve imposing new taxes on gasoline vehicles or implementing kilometer-based surcharges in order to meet their climate goals. Instead, Quebec aims to incentivize the adoption of EVs by offering substantial fiscal advantages in the form of tax credits to EV purchasers.
Quebec is one of the leading provinces in Canada when it comes to EV adoption. According to the most recent data zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) market share in Quebec reached 18.4% in the second quarter of 2023, sitting second only behind British Columbia at 20.5%.
The Government of Canada also recently announced a $30 million investment in Quebec to add 1,578 EV chargers across the province, with more than 400 of them being DC fast chargers.
