Gozit

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-c...-idCAKCN2E52DD

This is why I have been against electric cars. I knew they would try to force us to use them one way or another. Next it will be self driving cars and that it's too unsafe to have user operated vehicles.

Personally I don't think they are all they are cracked up to be, and there should be an alternative to keep ICE going like hydrogen fuels.

Guess i'll have to save up for my dream car a little sooner since it seems like I won't be able to buy it when i'm comfortable enough to get it.

For car enthusiasts like me our vehicles will hold their value and the used market will explode come 2035.

Electric vehicles just don't have a "soul" in them like regular cars do due to the linear power band.

dbd33

Pah! Most cars in Canada are hardtop automatics anyway, it's no more exciting to drive one of those than it is an electric car.

If there was an end to the supply of petrol, which is a stretch, one could convert to propane, as Morgan once had to do.

Gozit

Agreed - but as someone who drives a manual Focus ST I am not one of "most cars." The driving experience and "butt dyno" is important to me. They have been saying we are running out of oil since the 70s - i think that speaks for itself since that was 50 years ago and we still have oil.

But if they ban new sales of petrol cars we will have no choice inevitably when the existing petrol cars die out and the infrastructure dies out. Hopefully the conservatives get in the election and stop this.

Then again - esso is still building new petrol stations near me!

Former Lancastrian

Ah Justin says this so do we all believe it is true?

This is what he said about electionsIn June 2015, Trudeau vowed that the federal election of that year would be the last conducted under the first-past-the-post system. In February 2017, as prime minister, he decided to walk away from that commitment.
By the time they stop selling petrol only cars in Canada I will probably be long dead or having given up driving.

Just something else to try and gain more votes from the Green crowd who really no longer have a viable party to challenge the Big 3.

dbd33

The hideous consequences of a conservative government don't bear thinking about. Fortunately, they seem to have taken the path of swivel eyed lunacy that leads to oblivion.

On this specific issue they can advocate for petrol, or a return to steam power, even coal fired cars, all they want, but the force of history will run over them. The choice of vehicles in Canada is predicated upon the actions of the US government, it it's cheaper to operate electric cars in the US then that's what will be made and that's what will be sold here. Infrastructure improvements will save the US economy and that means facilities for electric cars everywhere, the Canadian government is irrelevant to all of that.

In any case, electric cars at the moment are only just as cheap to run as petrol cars and people buy them in large number, once they're clearly cheaper there will be no need of government policy to nudge people into them. They're what's coming. Get your Mum to give you a Tesla for Christmas, you might like it. Personally, I can't wait for the electric Ranger.

Shard

It's a good idea. It will largely be autonomous vehicles by then anway. Petrolheads will be able to keep their vingtage machines just as they do now.

OrangeMango

The issue I have is the year 2035? Why was this year picked? Why not 2034 or 2036?

Certainly Trudeau won't be in office by then, that's for sure, so he won't be accountable for this anyway.

However the main reason, I am asking this question about the year, is the technology and technological advancement.

Will there be enough development to have these cars ready by then? The main issue with electric cars is the battery and the distance one can travel on these cars and also the lifetime of the battery. Batteries are also in the end chemical in terms of how they work and their reaction is naturally different in minus 25 or minus 30 degrees or plus 40, both are possible in Canada. Unless there is a breakthrough in battery technology the whole thing about electrical cars is a complete no-go.

Who wants to have a break down in the middle of nowhere between Edmonton and Saskatoon in a winter of minus 30 degrees? Or recharge for one or two hours or more? And then there is the environment? Recycling a battery of an electric vehicle is neither that economical nor environmentally friendly as well...

dbd33

Before covid, about half my colleagues commuted by electric car. I will replace the petrol Ranger with an electric one as soon as they're available. Far from being a "no-go" electric cars are already common and hybrid ones are the norm. It may be that there are usages for which electric vehicles are not appropriate but then all vehicles, except a Dodge Caravan with plastic wood sides, have limits to their practicality.

scrubbedexpat091

Only time will tell, its a wait and see game, but politicians in Canada like to push things into the future as they know they wont be in office when the poop hits the fan and it will be someone else's problem, or conservatives will win a majority some point in between, repeal it or push the start date further down the road, and thus making the Conservatives look evil, its what the Liberals do, and I am no conservative but I cannot stand the Liberal party in its current form and leader.

BC set their date for 2040 a couple years ago, so federal government is rally just copying what BC already did, but pushed it up 5 years earlier. BC had a carbon tax in 2008, federal government didn't get around to it until like what 2019. Upside is the federal carbon tax was not newsworthy in BC because we already had one.


Charging infrastructure too, condos built before 2015 in BC generally have no electric vehicle charging capability in their garages, and not all city's require charging facilities to be included in new builds, and inability to charge at home does seem to be a sticking point for many as is upfront costs, even though I can't charge at home, if upfront cost to obtain an electric were not so high, I would get one just to stop having to buy gas and oil changes. Would make road trips a little more tricky, but eventually that will hopefully be resolved.

Danny B

I ain’t never getting rid of my diesel.

dbd33

You'll get shamed out of it. Peer pressure, not legislation, ended smoking and it'll do the same for environmentally unsound vehicles.

okonumiyaki

Um - hydrogen is also an EV. The gas isn't exploded in cylinders like an ICE, it is used in a fuel cell to generate electricity that then powers electric motors.

OrangeMango

Politicians and authorities tend to react allergically towards diesel engines especially in English speaking countries. However they fail to recognize that the diesel engine is more effective and also produces way less CO2 and if you're having a particle filter than things are pretty good.

In Canada it's more the question about minus 30 degrees and winter diesel. This might be an issue but it's solvable. A simple trick that works is no more than one litter of petrol while fully filling your diesel tank with diesel.

Shard

Yup, London's LEZ (Low Emission Zone) an extra £12.50 on top of the congestion charge (£15) for the joy of driving around for an hour to find a vacant parking meter (£3.80 hr / £5.15 hr older diesel).

dbd33

Or you park indoors, or you can use a block heater. IME, the problem with diesels is that they're noisy and smelly, not that they're harder to start than petrol engines.