SPARKING INTEREST
Gas prices drive demand for EVs
At the Kia West dealership in Coquitlam, marketing manager Jennifer Wendell said they received a showroom model of Kia's new EV 6 and took 15 orders for the vehicle in one weekend.
“Just, it's insane, and also with gas prices, electric is the way that consumers are leaning towards if you think about the cost of ownership,” Wendell said.
But it all started about a yearand-a-half ago.
Wendell said consumers know that they will have to wait for any new vehicle, including EVs, though they may be more impatient with gas prices as high as they are.
“They (the delay) can be anywhere from three months to a year, depending on the model and how much trim level they want,” Wendell said.
On Monday, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney announced his government was suspending collection of his province's fuel tax, worth 13 cents per litre on gasoline and diesel products, a move that British Columbia says it won't copy.
B.C. Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth said Monday that the province will still go ahead with its planned one-cent-per-litre increase to the carbon tax, because there is “no simple solution” to the rapidly rising prices in the uncertainty caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In B.C., the government's objective under its Clean B.C. policy is for zero-emission vehicles to make up 26 per cent of new light-duty vehicle sales per year by 2026, then 90 per cent by 2030. According to the province, sales of zero-emission vehicles hit 13 per cent in 2021, with B.C. paying out 18,534 rebates, the highest number in the last seven years.
And government included a PST exemption on the purchase of used EVs, on top of the Clean B.C. Go Electric rebate for new cars, which will be “adjusted to continue to increase adoption” of zero-emission vehicles, according to the Energy and Mines ministry.
Vancouverite Julian Mosley mostly doesn't notice gasoline prices on his commute to Coquitlam any more, even driving past Metro Vancouver service stations displaying record prices of 209.9 cents per litre.
Mosley, an electrical engineer, and his spouse, Nancy Macdonald, a journalist, joined the front end of the electric-vehicle wave at the end of 2019, buying a Hyundai Kona to replace an aging, beloved Toyota Corolla facing a $2,000 repair bill to replace the clutch.
Said Mosley: “At first when we got the car, you'd actually look at the gas prices, now we don't even look at the gas station,” except maybe when their 2019 Kona needs a wash. And then the bill is more like $14 for the wash, “and chips,” versus the $50 to $60 they were paying every two weeks on gas “when gas was reasonable.”
With a $3,000 provincial EV rebate, on top of a $5,000 federal rebate and $500 to scrap their old car under B.C.'s discontinued Scrap-It program though, Mosley said that although it seemed like a luxury, “we're really getting a deal.”
Anyone interested in purchasing a new EV vehicle, however, will face waiting times of a year or more as EV production is bogged down by the same supply chain disruptions all manufacturers face.
“That applies to everything, not just electric vehicles,” said Blair Qualey, CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of B.C.
“What I hear from our dealer members, and what I read like everybody else, there's sure a fullcourt press trying to get as many vehicles and EVs out as possible, because there's some pretty hefty targets that have to be met by manufacturers.”