Electric vehicle (EVs) adoption is growing rapidly. Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts that within five years, the cost to produce EVs will be equivalent to internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs), and lower thereafter. Public policy is also driving EV adoption, with the Government of Canada targeting the phase out of new ICEV sales by 2035.
Achieving local, national and global climate targets will require the near complete electrification/decarbonization of transportation by 2050. In response to the growing EV market, municipalities and developers working to ensure our new buildings can accommodate EVs now, or in the near future.
Clean Air Partnership, with funding from The Atmospheric Fund, partnered with AES Engineering to develop an Ontario EV Ready New Residential Construction Costing Study and conducted associated consultations with municipal, developer and utility stakeholders. This project was in response to the removal of all EV requirements from the Ontario Building Code (OBC) in 2018 by the Government of Ontario, leaving municipalities struggling to advance EV readiness in new buildings.
The next step in this endeavor will be to undertake additional consultations to advance EV-ready requirements in new developments through green development standards or EV parking requirements. This will future proof new developments and reduce barriers and costs to EV uptake, while building the EV charging market in Ontario. This will reduce costs within the building sector and help ensure that Ontario doesn’t fall too far behind Quebec and British Columbia in the EV market.
By, Gabriella Kalapos, Executive Director, Clean Air Partnership