In a shocking turn of events for many political pundits, the new ruling party in British Columbia is the BC Conservatives.
For the EV industry, this could mean sweeping changes are coming down the pipe. In their party platform, the BC Cons committed to ending the zero-emission vehicle sales quota and letting British Columbians choose the vehicle that works for their family and work.
This would mean ending the Zero-Emissions Vehicle Act, which would have mandated that 26 percent of all light-duty and Class 2B vehicle sales be ZEV by 2026. By 2030, this would be 90 percent, and by 2035 it would be 100 percent.
In addition to ending the ZEV mandate, the BC Conservatives also committed to:
- Repealing the CleanBC Climate Plan
- Prioritizing LNG and natural gas development
- Supporting renewable technology as long as it can be shown to be as reliable, affordable, and environmentally friendly as other alternatives.
However, the BC Conservative platform was silent on the paused CleanBC GO Electric rebate and, given their other commitments, will most likely kill the program, but that is to be confirmed.
So, what does this mean? Well, we are a little early to see what the newly elected Premier will actually do on these platform commitments. In his early victory speeches, EV mandates and other climate-related initiatives took a back seat to other priority commitments, so changes aren’t expected immediately, but they could certainly happen once Lorne Doerkson’s government is sworn in sometime in early to mid-November.
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