Australia must not impose the high tarriffs Canada and the US do to counter subsidization by the Chinese government.
The Canadian government, instead of relaxing duties and other trade barriers on Chinese EVs, lowered its target for EV car adoption. People are buying fewer new cars to begin with (cars tend to last longer here than they did in decades past) and EVs are said to be too expensive relative to gasmobiles.
"Even after recent price cuts, the Model Y runs for about $64,000, while the Model 3 is about $68,000. The next most popular EV models in Canada, Volkswagen's ID.4 and the Ford Mustang Mach-E, run for $49,000 and $55,690, respectively."
"Price has been one of the reasons Canadians haven't embraced EVs as enthusiastically as Europeans. When you consider that popular internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles like the Honda Civic, Ford Escape and Nissan Rogue go for about $30,000, the cost of switching to an EV can be prohibitive.
Rachel Doran, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, says her organization did a survey last fall that brought this into stark relief.
"In a jurisdiction like the EU, you could choose from no less than 11 different options for a purchase price of $45,000 Cdn," she told CBC News. That includes models like the Smart EQ Fortwo, Citroën ë-C3 and Dacia Spring. "In Canada, it was just two — the Chevy Bolt, which was discontinued in 2023 and only just reannounced for return to Canada for the 2027 model year, and the Fiat 500 E.""
"One of the big stories in recent years is the ascendance of Chinese-made EVs, particularly from the company BYD,
which has overtaken Tesla as the world's biggest EV manufacturer.
Not only that, but BYD offers vehicles as low as $10,000 US (around $13,800 Cdn). However, last year, the Canadian government followed the U.S.'s lead in placing 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese EVs, saying they were unfairly subsidized.
Some drivers might say that even with such a hefty tariff, a vehicle that cheap could be worth pursuing. But Doran cautions that anyone trying to acquire a BYD or any other Chinese brand in Canada would have to contend with the additional costs of safety certification and shipping.
"It doesn't appear that Chinese EVs are a viable product here under current conditions," she said.
Adams says it's legitimate for Canadians to question the government's strategy.
"It's always a balancing act between what might be good for consumers and what's good for the economy," he said, noting the federal government has spent $50 billion attracting foreign direct investment, primarily to Ontario, for the manufacture of electric vehicles, batteries and battery components.
"That is the future of automotive, and they're trying to ensure that has some chance of succeeding here," said Adams. "If we allowed the Chinese vehicles into the Canadian marketplace, that would sort of be the end of our automotive industry as we transition to EVs, because the Chinese are about 15 to 20 years ahead of us.""
It's pretty wild to me that they're coming right out and effectively saying, screw the environment, protectionism is the way to go.
