EV Canada Newsletter: 1+ Year wait for EVs.

Weekly Recap Issue #16 - Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022

Canada

Stellantis invests $3.6-Billion.

In an effort to accelerate their move to a sustainable future, expand its Automotive Research and Development Centre and to secure future Ontario assembly plants, Stellantis plans to invest $3.6-Billion CAD.

The announcement is part of Stellantis’ strategic long-term electrification plans of investing $45-Billion CAD through 2025.

“These investments reaffirm our long-term commitment to Canada and represent an important step as we move toward zero-emission vehicles that deliver on our customers’ desire for innovative, clean, safe and affordable mobility,”

“We’re grateful to both the federal and provincial governments for their shared vision to create a sustainable future. And, to Unifor and our workforce for their support in helping ensure the viability of our Canadian operations for the long-term.”

-Mark Stewart, Chief Operating Officer, Stellantis North America

Stellantis’ overall investment in Ontario is $8.6-Billon CAD when combined with the Stellantis-LG joint venture battery plant, which will create 2,500 new jobs and Stellantis’ initial investment of $1.5-Billion which was made in 2020.

The Windsor plant will undergo heavy transformations to support multi-energy vehicle (MEV) architecture and is expected to begin in 2023. The Brampton assembly plant will be fully modernized with changes starting in 2024 and hoping to restart production in 2025.

The Electric Vehicle that Ford should have produced.

Want to buy an electric vehicle in Canada? It could take a year (or more).

Electric vehicle manufacturers are facing supply chain issues with many of their parts and this is delaying EV adoption in Canada.

The Canadian Automobile Dealers Association has indicated that a global vehicle shortage has caused delays across Canada for those looking at any type of new vehicle - electric or gas. Originally they were anticipating that delays would start to subside by the end of summer 2022, but now they are indicating that 2023 is more accurate.

If you talk to most dealers across the country, they will tell you that it could be up to a year to get a new vehicle. Production of vehicles is very low compared to previous years. The low production numbers, down from 1.4 million in 2020 and close to 2 million in 2019, came as a result of a shortage of semiconductor chips caused by pandemic-related production issues and a surge in demand for electronics.

The war in Ukraine has also caused issues for vehicle manufacturers, as both Ukraine and Russia are key exporters of neon, palladium and platinum which are all critical to microchip production. Not only have Canadians had to wait for their vehicles but prices on vehicles, especially electric vehicles have increased as prices for crucial materials skyrocket due to demand, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine.

Consumer advice, offered by The Canadian Automobile Dealers Associate, indicates that consumers should be aware of the current issues that vehicle manufacturers are making, do research, plan earlier than normal, start the process earlier than normal and try to be flexible.

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EV Around the World 🌏

USPS is getting sued by 16 States to block them from buying gas mail trucks.

16 states, and prominent climate activists sued the United States Postal Service over its plan to purchase 148,000 gas delivery trucks over the next decade. They are alleging that the agency failed to consider the environmental impact of its decision.

The states accuse the USPS of only performing a “cursory environmental review to justify the decision to replace 90 percent of its delivery fleet with fossil fuel-powered, internal combustion engine vehicles, despite other available, environmentally preferable alternatives,” the lawsuit reads. “In doing so, the Postal Service failed to comply with even the most basic requirements of [National Environmental Policy Act].”

The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by the state attorneys general of California, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington state, Washington, DC, and the city of New York.

Originally, USPS planned to purchase 165,000 next-generation mail trucks, of which only 10 percent of which would be battery-electric vehicles. President Joe Biden urged USPS to increase the number of EVs. Finally, earlier this year, the service said it would increase its initial order of EVs from 5,000 to 10,019.

The States accuse the USPS of an incomplete process to acquire gas-powered vehicles that only get 8.6 miles per gallon (27.35 litres/100km) while using air conditioning compared to an industry average of between 12 and 14mpg (19.6 l/100km and 16.8 l/100km) for fleet vehicles.

In response, the USPS defended its practices, indicating they remain open to increasing its order for more electric vehicles in the future should additional funding become available. However the attitude of “we will do it if you pay for it” is rubbing Americans the wrong way. Especially since Congress had to recently approve a $50 billion rescue package for USPS, which has lost more than $90 billion since 2007.

Ford F-150 Lightning to be more powerful and capable than originally announced.

Ford has recently started shipping the electric F-150 Lightning on April 26th, 2022 but they have already announced that all versions of the truck will have more horsepower, and some versions will have higher payload capabilities.

Originally, Ford announced that the standard battery pack version would make 426 horsepower, and the extended range version would make 563. But now that production is well on it’s way, higher numbers have been achieved: the standard range will produce 452 horsepower, and the extended will produce 580 horsepower.Also, with respect to payload, Ford’s announcement says that properly equipped F-150 Lightning pickups can now haul an extra 235 pounds for a total 2,235 pounds.

Ford stopped taking pre-orders for the truck in December, and is currently developing ways to reach its goal of producing 150,000 Lightnings per year. Pricing of the Ford F-150 Lightning starts at $68,000 CAD for the standard range battery but with the extended range and other options the truck could cost between $80,000 and $100,000 CAD.

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