Evidence of meeting #26 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vehicle.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Are there any regulatory obstacles to having those built there, but purchased here?
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
Not at this point. They will be treated like any other vehicle. We build several models of cars and trucks in Mexico, and they're sold in U.S. and Canada. They are built to market.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Are there any government obstacles to mass production and the retail sale of natural gas-powered vehicles, as you see it?
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
There aren't at this point in time, but we did have an issue with CNG when we first brought them out. We actually built them in Windsor, Ontario, at our old Pillette Road assembly plant, but for first two years of production we could not sell them in Canada because the pressure vessel codes were not harmonized with the U.S. We could only sell that product in the U.S.
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
They are, but I'm using that as an example of how as the technology comes to market. Sometimes, given the regulatory hurdles—I think this relates to Ms. Chow's question—it takes some time to make sure everything works on both sides. We need the flexibilities and the speed to make sure safe technology comes to market without the burden of regulation, be it from the U.S. or Canada.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
If you can identify regulations that inhibit any of your technologies, please get them to us before the conclusion of this study, because we can look at them and potentially recommend change. You don't have to do it right now.
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
Conservative
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
That will be difficult. Thank you for that opportunity, but it has happened before when—
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
—technology comes to market faster than regulations can accept it.
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
Thank you.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
If you have suggestions, we'd be happy to look at them and potentially make recommendations to help you remove some of the obstacles.
Manager, Vehicle Environmental and Energy Programs, Engineering and Regulatory Affairs, Chrysler Canada Inc.
Thank you.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
The electric battery was invented in the year 1800. It has been 212 years, yet we can't produce a battery right now that can retain large amounts of electricity so that it can be put onto the grid during peak hours. We don't have a battery, at least it does not appear that we have a battery, that can provide vehicles with the ability to compete with internal combustion fossil fuel-powered cars.
What is the holdup here? Why is it that humankind has made so many incredible advances in transportation technology and personal computers, etc., but we don't appear to have made a corresponding progress in the electric battery?
Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, Auto21 Inc.
I'd be happy to respond to that.
From 100,000 feet, if you like, one of the most difficult technical things to do is to store energy. We're really quite good at transforming energy from one form to another, but storing energy is very difficult, as you identify.
I would say you're absolutely correct. Up until about 1992, not very much progress was made on battery storage after World War II. The batteries that people were putting in the very first generations of electric cars were not fundamentally different from the batteries in a World War II submarine. They were very heavy. They had very limited capacity; equally important, although less visible to the user, was that it took a long time to charge them, so this really limited their utility in mobile applications such as cars.
In that time frame in the 1990s and since then, lithium battery chemistry has evolved to the point where it really is quite remarkable. The progress has been quantum since then. When we started AUTO21 in 2001, battery vehicles were not really a big factor, and many people confidently predicted they would never get anywhere. Well, they're starting to come on the market now, and for certain applications, they actually are a pretty good choice for certain motorists for certain kinds of use.
The barrier is simply a scientific progress issue. New battery chemistries are being developed all the time that have higher energy capacity, can accept a charge more rapidly, and are lighter in weight. The big problem is cost and overall capacity. That's why, for instance, we have concentrated so strongly on lightweighting the car; lightweighting really is a fundamental technology.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
Thank you for that.
If you can provide us with any examples of where a government regulation or fiscal policy is in any way an obstacle, please provide that to the committee at your earliest convenience—
Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, Auto21 Inc.
I will.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Nepean—Carleton, ON
—so that we can potentially include it in our report.
Your organization, AUTO21, receives approximately $11 million a year.
Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, Auto21 Inc.
That's $5.8 million, actually.
Chief Executive Officer and Scientific Director, AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, Auto21 Inc.
Yes. The $11 million is our overall research budget; that includes about $6 million of industry money.
Conservative