The number of electric vehicles on New Brunswick roads has doubled over the last year.
In July of 2021 the province announced it would offer a rebate of up to $5,000 for EV purchases, matching an already existing federal incentive program. Since then the number of EVs in the province has doubled, sitting at 1,932 as of Sept. 30, the head of New Brunswick’s Climate Change Secretariat told a legislative committee Wednesday.
“One of the things that we have seen is by having the incentive in place in New Brunswick, we have seen an uptake in electric vehicles,” said Jeff Hoyt.
The province’s former Climate Change Action Plan called for 2,500 EVs to be on the road by 2020, a target that was missed by a wide margin with just 470 as of March 2020.
An updated plan expresses EV targets differently, focusing on a percentage of vehicle sales, rather than a raw number, calling for EVs to make up six per cent of all vehicles sold by 2025 and 50 per cent by the end of the decade.
Hoyt says EVs currently make up about 2.3 per cent of sales, up from around 1 per cent before the incentive was introduced.
Part of the growing number is an increase in availability. While supply chain issues continue to make battery-powered vehicles difficult to access — Green MLA Kevin Arseneau says he is facing a two-year wait to purchase one — Hoyt says that putting the incentive in place has helped to grab New Brunswick a piece of the vehicles available.
“What we know is that if we have incentive programs and if you’re a jurisdiction that is ‘EV friendly’ you will attract electric vehicles to your jurisdiction,” he said.
Hoyt says that the province expects uptake in urban areas to be faster than in rural areas. Liberal environment critic Gilles Lepage is concerned about how the province will meet its targets when the current offering of EVs may not suit many who live in rural areas.
“Large vehicles or trucks are needed to haul equipment, to haul lumber, that’s the way of life – having a truck in your backyard,” he said. “For so many years, a truck is the tool to work so how can we change that perspective and at what cost.”
Hoyt says that is a concern of the province, but notes that the technology is moving faster than expected, with electric pickup trucks beginning to hit the market. He expects the combination of technological advances and incentives will help make EVs accessible to everyone across the province over the next decade.
“When you look at the pricepoint combined with the incentive and the operating cost, the differential is becoming a lot closer,” he said.
“We will see that transition, it will likely take a little but longer in those rural areas, but the technology is changing very fast. I think the options for consumers both in terms of battery capability and range will make those options more affordable.”
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