December 2021

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

It's that time of year when families and friends are gathering more, though hopefully still carefully, and EV groups have started in person or online social events: often for charity, sometimes socially, and often both. We encourage all members to check the online calendars of their local clubs, many located in links at the bottom of this newsletter, and see what's happening near them.

From a Canadian EV market point of view, new vehicles like the highly anticipated Volkswagen ID.4 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 have started trickling into dealers, the former much more so than the latter. Even then, it's still a waiting game for many buyers of new EVs, so here's hoping that as more are delivered in 2022, more older internal combustion vehicles can be removed from the road (especially unhealthy particulate and GHG-spewing older diesels).

These next few weeks will also be significant for the Canadian auto industry, which is waiting anxiously of what will be finalized in the massive U.S. Build Back Better Act, which is currently going through the Senate and as of this writing, looks set to pass by year's end or early in 2022, barring very possible political roadblocks. Details are below, but Canadian governments, auto parts makers and OEMs themselves fear the proposed EV incentives for U.S.-built EVs only will potentially destroy Canada's ability to attract more key EV investment in the next decade -- perhaps even starting now. Either passed by year end or not, this seems like this will be a major EV issue in 2022.

From all the volunteers and board members here at EV Society, happy holidays, and a festive and healthy new year!

Michael Bettencourt, EV Newsletter Managing Editor

December 2021, Episode #19 - The Pivot to Electrification

Our most recent Canada Talks webinar happened on Tuesday, where we had Tom Rucker, President of Magna Powertrain talk about the challenges of shifting to an emerging electric vehicle market. Tom also shared some of Magna's strategy as well as their thoughts about how quickly the transition will happen. The full video can be found here, at the EV Society's YouTube page.

EV SOCIETY NEWS

EV Society Ontario Chapter welcomes OPG's head of electrification

This month's webinar guest will be Tyler Seed, Electrification Development for Ontario Power Generation

Tyler will clarify OPG's role within the Ontario electricity system and then outline some projections for the future of electricity in our market. He will address Co2 emissions and the expected implications of electrification. Tyler will also provide an update on the exciting news around the Ivy Charging Network expanding to ONroute locations (details below), and introduce us to 'PowerON Energy Solutions' and their work with the Toronto Transit Commission.

Here's a two minute bio video on Tyler and his role with OPG, for those looking for some background prior to this special meeting. Don't forget to register for the webinar below, which will also include an EV industry sales report by Adii Eid of GM Canada, and EV news presented before the guest presentation as well.

EV INDUSTRY NEWS

ONroute highway rest stops to receive DC quick chargers - finally!

EV owners in or driving to Ontario will soon be able to access long-promised DC quick chargers at ONroute highway rest stops throughout the province. Roughly five of them planned to open as early as January, at ONroutes in between Montreal and Toronto, with 20 locations planned on major highways by the end of 2022.

These will be part of the Ivy Charging Network. Ivy is a joint venture between Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation (OPG), which will install and operate the quick chargers of 50 to 150 kW speeds, with two to four charge points planned per location, according to Ivy. By mid-year, 17 locations are slated to be up and running by the summer road trip season, with all 23 ONroute highway stops eventually slated to receive DC quick chargers.

A complete list of when each ONroute DC quick charger is scheduled to be open can be found at Ivy's site here, as well as a map of their other charging locations.

EV charging losses explained, just in time for winter quick charging

Noted EV expert Tom Moloughney explains why you may be charged for more power than your battery can hold, while defending his finding of the upcoming Lucid Air as the quickest charging EV on the market (slated to arrive in Canada early in 2022).

Recently in defence of what appears to be uncalled for attacks from a small but vocal element on social media, Moloughney wrote a detailed but clear explanation of the energy used to bring a new Lucid Air EV from 0% state of charge to 100%. What it didn't prove was that it had a larger battery than Lucid had stated, just because the charger had delivered more kWh than the Lucid's stated capacity.

Anyone contemplating buying a home charging unit would be well advised to check out this YT channel. He even deep freezes the charging cords to just to see how they will perform in the winter in northern U.S. states and Canada.

Canada threatens tariffs over the U.S. Build Back Better bill's protectionist EV trade measures, still winding through Senate

The U.S. Build Back Better bill is contentious in Canada and Mexico for its protectionist EV trade implications, and for many other reasons in the U.S. The original hope was to have it or a modified version of it pass through the Senate by the end of 2021, though each passing day makes that seem less and less likely.

Here's the latest news on the CBC on how important Canadian governments at multiple levels are watching what happens, and lobbying senators regarding trade concerns that offering up to $12,500 for EVs only built in the U.S. by 2027 violates the recently signed trade agreement between the three countries that replaced NAFTA, the USMCA. Though the rebates moving exclusively to U.S.-made vehicles aren't set to kick in until after 2025, decisions on where to invest billions in auto and battery manufacturing plants in North America in the second half of this decade are being planned and fought over now.

Canada's recent letter to the U.S. that threatens tariffs and a suspension of parts of the USMCA state that it wants to see all Canadian-built vehicles eligible for these same rebates.

Some notes to keep in mind:

This EV incentive package is not part of the massive infrastructure bill that has been approved by U.S. Legislators and signed into law by President Biden, which included billions for EV charging infrastructure. As of this date it is still in the works.

Extending the $7,500 incentive to all EVs vehicles in the short term will help EV adoption, and remove the penalty that early US manufacturers of EVs (GM and Tesla), whose vehicles no longer qualify and thus these manufacturers suffer under the current incentive plan.

Big Vancouver EVolution 2022 event in planning stages

Next year's EVolution 2022, put on by the BC Institute of Technology, is in its planning stages, and may be looking for panelists and local EVS and VEVA members for the June 22 EV show. The open air event in Burnaby promises to bring together over 100 EV experts, vendors, innovators, and leaders.

If you're interested, please check out the event's site, and/or contact your local Vancouver-area EVS group.

Canadian national EV sales mandate wanted by end of next year: environment minister

CP: Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault says he wants a national mandate that would force auto dealers to sell a certain number of electric vehicles to be in place by the end of next year.

National survey of Canadian EV owners by government and Pollution Probe needs feedback

Environmental NGO Pollution Probe is working with the federal government on a study to make recommendations for Canada's public EV charging infrastructure. They're looking for feedback from BEV and PHEV drivers across the country, so make your voice heard here.