QUEEN’S PARK – This afternoon, MPP Mike Schreiner and MPP Aislinn Clancy will table a bill to increase affordability and charging accessibility for electric vehicles.
“If this government is serious about making EVs more affordable and more easily accessible for everyday Ontarians, it cannot rely on manufacturing subsidies alone,” said Clancy.
“Those investments need to be accompanied by credible measures that make it easier and more affordable for people to buy and use the EVs we produce.”
If passed, the Affordable Electric Vehicles and Accessible Charging Act will require the Minister of Transportation to establish an electric vehicle strategy that aims to increase the affordability of electric vehicles and the accessibility of charging stations by:
- Outlining a plan to implement a network of charging stations for electric vehicles along highways and in communities across Ontario, including in underserved rural and remote areas;
- Creating a plan to make new and used electric vehicles more affordable by exploring rebates and other possible incentive programs; and
- Implementing a research and development program to advance the goal of supporting charging reliability, including the standardization of charging stations.
The proposed act also amends Ontario’s building code so that all new homes, including multi-residential homes, must be built with EV charging stations.
“These are simple measures the government could take to make sure that the growth of our EV supply chain actually benefits the people of this province,” said Schreiner.
“Otherwise, those benefits will leave the province as the EVs we build are exported somewhere that actually understands how EVs make life more affordable for people.”