The Ontario Liberals are touting the investment and support they’ve shown in building Canada’s new clean-energy economy during their election campaign.
Premier Dalton McGuinty made a campaign stop at Electrovaya — the only company in Canada that develops and manufactures cutting-edge patented lithium ion batteries used to power electric cars. These batteries let electric cars drive further on a single charge. Electrovaya also builds energy storage systems — to store wind and solar power — and is currently building the world’s largest single lithium ion battery.
“We’re making Ontario the North American powerhouse for clean-tech manufacturing,” said Premier McGuinty.”Our extremely competitive tax system, our highly skilled workforce and our world-renowned Green Energy Act are making Ontario the place to be for clean, high-tech jobs.”
For his part, Dr. Sankar Das Gupta, Chair and CEO of Electrovaya Inc. said government support has helped the industry grow. “Premier McGuinty has shown strong leadership in his advocacy for Ontario businesses in the greening automotive and energy sectors,” said Das Gupta. “This government’s support for small and medium enterprises has helped us to remain competitive with global competition while continuing to create high-value green jobs here in Ontario.”
Ontario is the number-one producer of cars in North America and the Ontario Liberals say they want the province to become the number-one producer of electric cars, with a goal of having one in every 20 cars in Ontario electrically powered by 2020.
In a news release, the Liberals say they hope to have five per cent of all cars electric vehicles by 2020. They say they will achieve that by investing $80 million to have electric car charging stations widely available across Ontario. The plan also calls for incentives on electric cars of $5,000-$8,500 and green license plates which would allow drivers to use the province’s network of HOV lanes.
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