Companies are pausing investments, not because of tariffs but because demand isn’t growing nearly as fast as hoped
The vision of an all-electric transportation sector, shared by so many policy-makers across Canada, is fading fast. The latest failure to charge is Honda’s recent announcement, citing lack of demand, that it will postpone a $15-billion electric vehicle (EV) project in Ontario for two years.
Compounding the hurt, it will move some of its EV production to the United States, partly in response to the Trump tariff wars. The focus on tariffs may be misdirection, however, concealing failures in the electrification agenda that have been evident for years, certainly well before Trump’s tariffs.
In 2023, the Quebec government pledged $2.9 billion in financing to secure a deal with Swedish EV manufacturer Northvolt. Ottawa committed $1.34 billion to build the plant and another $3-billion worth of incentives. So far, per the CBC, the Quebec government has “invested $270 million in the project and the provincial pension investor, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), has also invested $200 million.”
For the rest of this column: https://financialpost.com/opinion/opinion-the-ev-fantasy-is-running-out-of-juice-fast