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General Motors officially opened a factory in Ingersoll, Ont., today, making it the first assembly line production plant for electric vehicles in Canada, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford on hand to mark the opening .
Trudeau told reporters at a Dec. 5 news conference that the transformation of the plant, which now produces BrightDrop fully electric vehicles, happened in “record time.”
Both the province and the federal government provided $259 million of GM’s $2 billion budget for upgrades to the plant and the conversion to enable it to produce electric vehicles (EVs). The plant change was announced in April.
The vehicles produced by the plant are mostly commercial for delivery purposes, with customers including FedEx, Walmart, DHL, and Verizon.
EV Sales are mandatory
By 2035, 100 percent of new vehicle sales will be light duty must go electric, say the feds. A reported $3.3 billion has been spent on rebates and subsidies since 2016.
To achieve the target of 100 percent market share for EV sales by 2035, sales will need to go from the current 5 percent to 15 percent of all new vehicle sales by 2025, and then to 60 percent of all new sales five years later, through 2030.
According to the federal government, the plant will produce 50,000 electric vehicles by 2025.
Premier Doug Ford called GM’s commitment to the plant “a tremendous vote of confidence” in Ontario but said there is more work to be done given the uncertain economy.
Five percent of Canadians surveyed say they currently own or lease an EV, according to a Nov. 15, 2021 how the country’s citizens view EVs. Ninety-five percent of Canadians surveyed did not own an EV, and 43 percent responded that they did not intend to purchase one.
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Marnie Cathcart is a reporter based in Edmonton.
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