BURST
The provincial government has backed away from a plan to outlaw the sale of all new gas-powered, light-duty vehicles in the next decade.
On Wednesday, B.C. Energy Minister Adrian Dix said an earlier mandate enshrined in provincial law — requiring that 100 per cent of all new vehicles sold be zero-emission by 2035 — will be amended. Instead, the new target will be 75 per cent.
Dix said the changes to the 2019 Zero-Emission Vehicles Act would bring the province in line with recent changes to federal goals around the uptake of zero-emission vehicles and give consumers more flexibility.
“The alignment will provide certainty for automakers, reduce their regulatory burden and support them in addressing challenges, such as slower than expected consumer adoption driven by supply chain disruptions and U.S. tariffs,” the ministry said in a news release.
In B.C. a zero-emission vehicle includes electric and hydrogen-propelled vehicles and plug-in hybrids. Most hybrid vehicles sold in B.C. are not plug-in.
Each year, automakers must report the number and types of vehicles they sell in B.C. through the Zero-Emission Vehicles Reporting System.
The government said a 26 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales target for 2026 and 2027 would remain in place.
Barry Penner, a former B.C. Liberal MLA and current chair of the Energy Futures Institute, said the government had not gone far enough and that the Zero-Emission Vehicles Act should be repealed.
“It’s April Fools’ Day, but it isn’t funny that the B.C. government is determined to keep its flawed policy, which drives up costs of vehicles while reducing choice for consumers,” Penner said in a news release.
“Lowering the 2035 target from 100 per cent to 75 per cent is a clear admission that the original mandate went too far and didn’t reflect real-world conditions, but is also proof that the underlying concept is off base.”
Penner cited a report published by the institute that found the share of new vehicle sales that were hybrids rose from 8.5 per cent in 2023 to 20.9 per cent in 2029. Meanwhile, the share of zero-emission vehicles sold during the same time frame fell from 22.8 per cent to 18.3 per cent.
There are an estimated 230,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road in B.C., according to the province.
Blair Qualey, CEO of the New Car Dealers Association, said in a statement the relaxing of targets was a “step in the right direction.”
“We appreciate that government is listening to both industry and consumer concerns. For some time, we have been highlighting the growing gap between policy ambition and market reality,” he said. “These changes reflect an important recognition that flexibility matters and that policy must evolve alongside consumers, not before them.”
Joanna Kyriazis, a spokesperson for Clean Energy Canada, a think-tank at Simon Fraser University, applauded B.C.’s approach.
“As gas prices climb past $2 a litre in many parts of B.C., the province’s zero-emission vehicle sales regulation is more important than ever,” Kyriazis said.
The province also announced Wednesday it would spend $19.1 million to build 75 new electric-vehicle charging stations through the CleanBC Go Electric public charger program.
This will include 277 direct-current fast-charger ports and 51 level-2 charger ports.
As of Jan. 1, there were about 8,800 public charging ports in B.C.
The federal government recently set a new-car sales goal for electric vehicles of 75 per cent by 2035 and 90 per cent by 2040.