Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the committee.
My name is Joanna Kyriazis. I am director of public affairs at Clean Energy Canada. We're a climate and clean energy think tank at Simon Fraser University.
Today, I would like to talk to you about EV affordability and why this must be a top priority for the federal government and industry if we want to help Canadians through a cost of living crisis and to set our burgeoning domestic EV sector up for long-term success.
Globally, EVs now make up one in every five new cars sold, and they're on track for another record-breaking year. Here at home, EV sales are also on the rise, making up 13% of new car sales across the country and nearly a third of new car sales in leading provinces like Quebec. You wouldn't think it from the headlines you've been seeing, but in the last quarter, Canada saw the highest volume of EV registrations ever. This is because EVs are one of the best ways to save Canadian drivers money and to free them from volatile gas prices. Plugging into our homegrown clean electricity saves the typical EV driver about $3,000 per year on fuel and maintenance. Put another way, today's Canadian EV drivers pay the equivalent of about 40¢ per litre of gas to charge their cars.
From a Canadian industry perspective, the transition to EVs has given our auto sector a second life. From 2000 to 2020, Canada dropped from being the fifth-largest auto-making country in the world down to the twelfth. We were losing jobs and investment in our sector. In the last four years, Canada has attracted almost $50 billion in EV-related investments, and we are now ranked the top country in the world for our EV battery supply chain potential. It is due to the fact that our country has some huge comparative advantages to offer this growing global industry. Our critical mineral wealth is one, as EVs are six times more mineral intensive than gas cars. Our low-carbon steel and aluminum, plus clean electricity to power our manufacturing operations, are another comparative advantage as companies and countries are preferring cleaner, more responsibly produced products. Our manufacturing footprint, highly skilled workforce and leading battery researchers are yet another comparative advantage as future vehicles become increasingly high tech.
In short, our auto, steel, aluminum and critical mineral sectors are better positioned to win an electric vehicle future than they are to win a gas-powered one. Many of these Canadian industries say that this is a generational economic opportunity. However, there is a major barrier that stands in the way of these opportunities for Canadian consumers and industry: EV prices are still too high. Polling suggests that the upfront cost remains the number one concern for prospective EV buyers.
Canadians currently have limited access to affordable EVs, and manufacturers here in Canada and in the U.S. aren't making them. In our submission, Clean Energy Canada argued that the impacts on EV affordability must be considered in Canada's response to Chinese-made EVs, either by considering lower tariff amounts or by complementing tariffs with other measures. Now that Canada has decided to apply a 100% tariff to Chinese-made EVs, the key question is this: What will Canadian governments and producers do with this time they've bought themselves?
Clean Energy Canada recommends that the federal government, for its part, adopt an EV affordability package made up of the following measures.
First, refund and extend the federal incentive program that helps Canadian drivers go electric. This program is more popular than ever this year, but it's set to end in March 2025, before most made-in-Canada EVs are even available to buy.
Second, ensure that new and existing condos and apartment buildings have EV charging installed. Millennial Canadians are the most interested in going electric, but they often live in or rent in apartment buildings where access to charging is limited.
Finally, preserve a strong EV availability standard that requires carmakers to make more EV models available to Canadians and will help drive down the price of EVs. This policy also offers market certainty for the other stakeholders involved, like EV charging providers, electric utilities and even mining companies, to plan and invest according to expected EV uptake.
We believe the federal government can balance multiple interests—addressing consumer affordability and climate change—while also setting our auto industry up for long-term success.
Thanks for the opportunity to contribute today. I look forward to your questions.