China still boasts the largest EV ecosystem. But like other EV contenders including India and Indonesia, it is reliant on fossil fuels for power, David Olive writes.
Two months before Honda Motor Co. announced in April that it will build $15-billion worth of electric vehicle (EV) factories in Ontario, Canada had already eclipsed China as the country with the greatest potential to build a leading “global lithium-ion battery supply” chain.
That’s the finding of BloombergNEF (BNEF), a leader in monitoring global EV initiatives. It’s worth quoting at length why BNEF says Canada, among the 30 countries it surveys, is at the front of the pack in the race to create EV ecosystems.
“Canada’s consistent manufacturing and production advances, and strong ESG (environment, social, governance) credentials, have helped it become a leader in forming the battery supply chains of the future,” said BNEF, a branch of the U.S.-based Bloomberg.
“Strong integration with the U.S. automotive sector means Canada is also a big winner in the ‘friendshoring’ ambitions of the (U.S.) Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The country’s position in BNEF’s ranking is propelled by policy commitment at both the provincial and federal levels.”
For the rest of this article: https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/canada-s-at-the-front-of-the-pack-in-the-ev-race-but-there-s/article_e06a78e0-12ee-11ef-8426-9ba3cc0fea01.html