Achi news desk-
The county is pushing drivers to switch to electric vehicles (EVS), but Quivers don’t seem to be buying.
The latest figures from SAAQ show that the number of gas-powered vehicles will peak in 2023.
As ambitious as Quebec’s transportation electrification goals are, gasoline-powered cars aren’t out of the game yet.
Some experts claim that there are many reasons for the increase in gas vehicles.
“The real problem is that all the early adopters have already bought an electric car over the last few years. Now, the problem is that you have to conquer a new market, you have to convince new people to buy electric cars,” said automotive journalist Marc Bouchard.
However, this was not an issue in 2022 when gas-powered car purchases dropped by more than 45,000 in Quebec.
That number climbed rapidly to more than 160,000 last year. So is the high cost of electric driving the real culprit?
“The price gap between affordable gas vehicles and electric vehicles is still significant. So you have to drive a lot. You have to drive 28,000 miles a year to be profitable to drive an electric vehicle,” said Jesse Caron, an automotive expert. with CAA.
Caron says the price of EV batteries is simply too high for manufacturers to make the vehicles profitably.
“Until the situation changes, it will be very difficult for consumers to get into affordable vehicles,” Caron said. “Especially with the government subsidies that are being reduced.”
Quebec plans to phase out its subsidies for EVs starting next year, ending them entirely in 2027.
It has not yet been determined what effect this will have on the car market. But what is certain, says decarbonisation expert Mark Fordon, is that the right incentives can influence public opinion.
This includes getting lower income Quebecers to join the EV movement.
“You can create some political goodwill through some kind of appropriate subsidies and incentives to allow people to say, OK, you’re not alone, we know this is going to be a difficult transition,” Caron said.
Still, there’s no denying the popularity of electric vehicles in recent years, with nearly 171,000 electric and full hybrid cars on Quebec roads in 2023 and more than 240,000 so far this year.
As for the rest of 2024, it’s a guessing game how many drivers will choose to go electric.
