The number of electric vehicles has “exploded” but there are too few charging stations in Ontario, experts say
With the 2023 Canadian International Auto Show returning to Toronto for the first time since 2020, industry experts say growing demand for electric vehicles is putting pressure on Ontario to expand its charging infrastructure.
“We need to keep up with EV sales [and] we have to keep up with the infrastructure,” said Kevin Lisso, CEO and co-founder of EnerSavings, a Toronto-based green energy company that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by working with commercial, industrial and private companies.
Lisso said Ontario is lagging behind other provinces like British Columbia and Quebec in electric vehicle sales and charging infrastructure.
“[We] I don’t have a provincial discount and I don’t know why,” he said. “We’ve been told it’s coming and it’s coming and it’s coming, but we haven’t seen it yet.”
Jason Campbell, general manager of the auto show, said this year looks very different from previous years.
“We have seen a tremendous change in the industry. Most of them are planning an all-electric future,” Campbell said.
“The industry has really exploded in terms of every manufacturer that’s on the floor, either has a product here on the floor that’s fully electric or in development.”
Campbell said the show featured about 10 times as many electric cars this year compared to 2020.
But when it comes to infrastructure, he said Ontario in its current state is “not what it needs to be”.
Lisso said while there’s a lot of demand for electric vehicles in Canada as more people buy them and supply increases, charging stations in places like condos and malls won’t be able to keep up.
His company’s energy management system aims to counteract this. The system is a smart subscription plan that installs EV charging infrastructure for people in multi-family homes and scales as demand increases.
“You’re walking into a condo right now, maybe 10 people out of 200 are looking for a charger,” Lisso said.
“But you have to think about the next 10 that’s coming in six months and the next 10 in the next six months. So you have to build an infrastructure.”
As of last year, up to five percent of all vehicles in Canada are either all-electric or hybrid, and that percentage is expected to increase in the coming years. By 2035, the federal government insists that all new vehicles in Canada will be electric.
Magna International, an automaker, announced Wednesday that it will invest more than $470 million to expand its Ontario operations, including an electric vehicle battery facility that will be located in Brampton, Ontario. The company says it expects to start operations later this year.
The provincial government is also awarding $23.6 million in funding to Magna through Invest Ontario.
Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister for Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, said the Ford government will help Ontario build an end-to-end electric vehicle supply chain.
An analysis of Quebec’s and British Columbia’s mandates, released in December by the Canadian Climate Institute, found that the mandates have helped both provinces stay well ahead of the rest of the country in electric vehicle adoption.
BC is a leader in EV sales, accounting for nearly 15 percent of all new vehicles registered between January and June 2022. Quebec is second with 11.4 percent and Ontario third with 5.5 percent.
On February 3, the federal government announced a nearly $15 million investment in 2,100 electric vehicle charging stations in the greater Toronto area.
Funding, provided through Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program and Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration Program, has been provided to 32 organizations including municipalities, multi-resident buildings, private companies and utilities.
According to the federal government, to date, more than 150,000 Canadians and Canadian companies have taken advantage of the government incentive to purchase a zero-emission vehicle.
The investment aims to help ensure that all new passenger cars sold in the country are emission-free by 2035.
“By investing in essential charging infrastructure, we’re helping families save money at the pump while fighting climate change,” said Federal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino, who is also MP for Toronto’s Eglinton-Lawrence rides, in a statement .
“Our government will support the construction of new electric vehicle charging stations where Toronto residents need them most, including the way I drive.”
