A new survey undertaken of Canadian vehicle owners by DesRosiers illustrates the provincial divides in opinions about zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), as well as the differing views on what the government should do to reach the ambitious targets that have been set. “The Canadian government has set a significant challenge with its ZEV targets without yet providing a detailed roadmap as to how this will be achieved,” said Andrew King, Managing Partner at DAC.
The report says that because “a detailed actionable plan is, however, still very much missing—so we at DAC thought we would ask Canadians what they believe the Canadian government should do to increase ZEV sales.”
The survey includes responses from a thousand Canadian vehicle owners from coast to coast to coast. The responses varied significantly from region to region, but 68.7% of respondents indicated the government needs to “increase consumer incentives and rebates on zero-emission vehicles.”
Improving the charging infrastructure across the country was important to over half (53.7%) of respondents. Limiting the amount of ICE vehicles in the market was significantly less popular, with only 21.6% of respondents in agreement.
In the report, Des Rosiers says, “Interestingly (and as with most things ZEV focused) approval for limiting gas vehicle sales varied notably by region of the country from as low as 8.4% to as high as 25.8% depending upon the province in question. It should be noted however that even in the most ‘green’ province, 3 out of 4 consumers were against limits on gas vehicle sales.”
While there’s general support for the anti-climate change policies nationwide, the path to get there is still relatively vague. “For this goal to be met it will require creative and consumer focused policies that meet the needs of vehicle purchasers across the country,” said Andrew King.
