The Energy Futures Institute released a copy of a government slideshow presentation on Tuesday (June 24) that reveals the B.C. government is considering easing electric vehicle mandates due to slumping sales.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been obvious for a long time that B.C.鈥檚 electric vehicle targets were unattainable,鈥� said Barry Penner, Energy Futures Institute chair and former B.C. Liberal environment minister, in a news release.
B.C. passed the Zero Emission Vehicles Act in 2019, becoming the first jurisdiction in the world to mandate 100 per cent electric vehicle sales by a specific target date. The target is only for vehicles under a certain weight category. By 2026, 26 per cent of vehicle sales must be for electric models. By 2030, this must be 90 per cent and by 2035, 100 per cent.
Automakers selling cars in B.C. are required to demonstrate they are meeting the targets under the regulations.
The slideshow, dated June 18 and presented by Nat Gosman, an assistant deputy minister from the Energy and Climate Solutions ministry, acknowledges that electric vehicle sales in B.C. have "levelled off" and reaching the 2030 targets at this point will be "challenging."
According to the presentation, sales were at 15.3 per cent in April after averaging 18.5 per cent in the first three months of 2025 and 22.4 per cent in 2024.
The slideshow blames several factors, such as the high cost of these cars compared to regular autos, the pausing of federal and provincial rebate programs, supply chain disruptions, and gaps in charging infrastructure.
Penner said this fits with what his Institute projected.
"EVs are a major technological advance, but don鈥檛 work for everyone at this stage,鈥� he said.
The slides reveal several changes under consideration, including revising the targets, easing compliance requirements for automakers, changing the types of vehicles that count and working to make electric vehicles more affordable. Recommendations for changes to the program are expected in the fall.
The Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions did not provide a comment before publication.
Not a problem of supply
Blair Qualey of the New Car Dealers Association of B.C. (NCDA) reckons people still need more convincing to switch to electric vehicles. Car manufacturers have done their job, but consumers still need to know they will be able to plug the cars in, and they still need some financial incentive to take the risk and make the switch.
"What may have prompted some of these mandates is to try and move the industry along," he said. "But that's happened. The transition to electric is done."
Part of the problem now is the natural slowdown in demand after early adopters have mostly bought electric cars, he says. The remaining consumers are much harder to convince to make a change.
"Now we're facing sort of a big bubble of regular people in the middle who ask all sorts of important questions like, 'How much is it going to cost, and how far is it going to go, and where am I going to charge it?'" he said.
The NCDA has long been involved in the electric transition, having administered the expired CleanBC Go Electric Passenger Vehicle Rebate Program. Qualey was in the room when the slideshow was presented on June 18. He was pleased to see government officials open to changing mandates.
"There is a recognition that the demand for EVs is going in the wrong direction, and there's no way to meet the targets that exist," he said.
Qualey is still concerned about some of the penalties automakers could face if they fail to meet the targets. Automakers face a $20,000 per vehicle penalty for selling too many gas-powered cars. Companies can buy credits from other manufacturers to avoid the fees, or they can cap the number of cars they sell overall to keep the ratio right.
This ends up hurting car dealers, whom Qualey called the "meat in the sandwich" between government and automakers.
"We're all anxious to see something reasonable get worked out because our members just want to sell whatever the consumers want to buy," he said.
