Nova Scotia falls behind on uptake of electric vehicles

By Steve Gow

When it comes to the uptake of electric vehicles, the province is falling behind the rest of the country.

Released last week by the Ecology Action Centre and authored by Dunsky Energy Consulting, a white paper is detailing the landscape for electric vehicles in the province.

According to the report, electric vehicle sales are expected to rise globally by 30 percent in the next decade and 57 percent by 2040.

Currently however, global electric vehicles account for 2.6 percent in sales. In Canada that number is 3.5 percent while in Nova Scotia it is only .03 percent.

The Ecology Action Centre says consumer incentives and supply-side mandates are the significant causes of the lag.

Sustainable Transportation Coordinator Kelsey Lane told NEWS 95.7's The Rick Howe Show that on-lot stock is extremely limited.  She said only 1 in ten Nova Scotia dealerships even have an EV available on the lot at any given time and that wait times to purchase an electric vehicle can take up to 8 months.

“That's problematic of course,” said Lane. “Even if you wanted to buy an electric vehicle, you're having to wait an absurb amount of time which often is too long for people to wait if they need a vehicle and that's a big problem.”

Lane added the province needs to encourage dealerships to make EVs easier to access.  

She said one way that can happen is through policy.  She added, for example, an additional provincial incentive on top of the existing federal incentives that mandate a certain percentage of of sales of electric vehicles during a sales period “would certainly incentivize more people to buy electric and will also ensure more vehicles are there.”
 

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