Last gasp of the gas-guzzling vehicle
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault stirred up a hornet’s nest recently when he said that Ottawa will stop investing in new large-scale road infrastructure projects. Regardless of whether people agree or disagree with this, the days of new multi-lane asphalt highways for carbon-spewing cars are coming to an end.
Even before Guilbeault’s comments on funding for new roads, the federal government announced that it is phasing out the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035. The gas car has had a good run, but the truth is we’re now living through a period that can best be characterized as the last gasp of the gas-guzzling vehicle.
Even without government-imposed electric-vehicle mandates, the future of the gas-powered vehicle in Canada, the United States and Europe is bleak. There are simply too many factors lined up against the continued production and sale of vehicles with internal-combustion engines.
One of them is the growing concern about climate change and, more specifically, the amount of carbon emissions that come from vehicles. Globally, transportation is the second-largest source of carbon emissions, generating more pollution than manufacturing, agriculture, aviation and shipping. Governments will continue to clamp down on sources of greenhouse gas emissions, with the traditional gas car being one of the chief targets.
But there are a host of other factors that signal the demise of the gas-powered car. A major one is the price of gasoline, which I believe will skyrocket over the next few years, making fuel-powered vehicles far too expensive to drive for many people.
The coming price increase will be driven by various causes, including continued global instability resulting from regional conflicts and wars. However, the major cause of soaring gas prices in the years ahead will likely be food shortages triggered by population growth, drought, soil depletion and vanishing farmland.
What does food have to do with gasoline? Governments in Canada and the U.S. are increasingly requiring gasoline to have a higher content of ethanol, which is made mostly from corn. Most Canadian provinces mandate that ethanol make up between five and 15 per cent of gasoline blends, and the federal government’s clean fuel standards will see more ethanol added in the future.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture report from last February, approximately 40 per cent of the annual U.S. corn crop goes toward the production of ethanol and related products. But in a world grappling with rising food insecurity, there will be zero tolerance for turning one of our biggest food staples into automotive fuel.
The future of transportation that I foresee is twofold. First, we’ll move toward an increased reliance on public transportation — specifically, light rail transportation.
Second, and more importantly, we’ll see the widespread adoption of small electric vehicles, sometimes referred to as “micromobility” vehicles. These zero-emission, one-or-twoperson cars are small — four can fit into a regular parking space — and they’re also very affordable. Best of all, they only cost around $1 per day to charge, and they come with much lower maintenance and insurance costs.
WE’RE GOING ELECTRIC COME HELL OR HIGH WATER.
Micro electric vehicles are also tailor-made for the tight confines of urban driving and could put a real dent in the traffic congestion clogging up Canada’s big cities. Less traffic means a higher quality of life for city commuters. And while they’re not ideal for long commutes, these micro vehicles are well suited for short trips to grocery stores, local shopping centres, as well as bus and train stations.
Large and mid-size electric vehicles will not solve our transportation problems. Although they’ll reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they’re still more expensive than most gas-powered cars and trucks, and they won’t help relieve traffic congestion.
The biggest impediment to the large-scale transition to electric vehicles is the electric power grid, which isn’t up to the task of powering millions of electric vehicles. It will take decades and trillions of dollars in investment. The best and most environmentally friendly way to get there, in my view, is to build small nuclear power reactors across the country to boost the capacity of our electric grid.
Micro electric vehicles will get us to net-zero carbon emissions a lot faster and at a much lower cost. I also believe that Canada can become a world leader in micromobility technologies and other green transportation solutions, but we have to first wrap our heads around the fact that the days of driving around on fossil fuels are about to end.
When it comes to transportation, we’re going electric come hell or high water. We might as well start preparing for it.