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Will 20 per cent of new cars in the Sault be electric by 2026?

Local auto dealers comment on electric vehicles, sales trends
ev-electric-vehicle-charging2

20 per cent of all cars, trucks and SUVs sold in Canada in 2026 will need to run on electricity under new regulations the federal government proposed in Dec. 2022.

The feds state that by 2030 that number will reach 60 per cent of all vehicles sold and that by 2035, every passenger vehicle sold in Canada will need to be electric.

But in the first six months of 2022, sales of fully electric and hybrid vehicles accounted for just seven per cent of new car sales.

That means there’s a way to go before the government’s 2026 goal is met, but Sault car dealerships are getting prepared. 

“By 2026 we will meet and exceed that number that the government has in place,” said Mario Palumbo, Northside Toyota owner/operator, speaking to SooToday.

For now, however, local car dealerships are caught in a waiting game to receive more zero emission vehicles from the factories to their showrooms. 

Canadians are experiencing longer wait times for new vehicles as supply chain issues and a computer chip shortages are keeping auto manufacturers from making enough vehicles to meet demand.

That problem is worse for electric vehicles.

“Right now we’re still facing some supply issues so it is tougher to get certain types of vehicles but it’s starting to open up,” Palumbo said.

“I could sell every one that I could get but right now there are supply problems,” said Mark Dick, World Cars Hyundai and World Cars Kia president and dealer principal. 

“Basically it’s order and wait at this point. The electrics, they’re pushing them hard but it’s difficult to acquire them at this point. It’s not like it was before COVID. It’s been a challenge after COVID with the chip shortage.”

“I’m ready to rock right now. I believe every manufacturer’s going to be onboard. I can pretty well sell electric in every model, but I need to get them,” Dick said. 

“We’re expecting our first fully electric vehicle most likely in June,” said Robert Prouse, Prouse Chevrolet Buick GMC Cadillac past president and currently a partner within that local dealership.

The Chevrolet Volt was a hybrid vehicle available to car buyers from 2011 to 2019.

General Motors has developed a new Ultium electric vehicle battery.

Currently, the Cadillac Lyriq and the Hummer EV SUV have the Ultium but those two models have so far been sold only in limited quantities in the U.S.

“It’s quality, not quantity. They want to make sure that they hit it right the first time. Our parent manufacturer is being very cautious,” Prouse said.

An official with one Sault auto dealer is doubtful there will be enough EVs on his lot to meet the 2026 government requirements.

“To meet that 20 per cent threshold, I don’t really see it happening, personally,” said Mike Gualtieri, Highland Ford marketing manager. 

Ford has F-150 Lightning EV trucks and Mustang Mach-E EV cars in its lineup, Gualtieri said, but stated supply chain issues are a factor.

“That’s definitely one of the biggest problems,” Gualtieri said. 

“It is very hard to get your hands on one of them, especially the F-150 Lightning. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is a little more common. You’ll see those more around town but still the wait times for them are much, much longer.”

Apart from supply chain issues, Gualtieri feels that northerners are not as keen to buy EVs in comparison to auto buyers in other parts of the country.

“There’s more of a pushback with electric up north from what I’ve noticed.”

“The local population think that up here it’s too cold for electric vehicles. The cold is definitely a big problem with the charge of the batteries. From my understanding two of the owners with the electric Mustangs have chargers at home. In town they have no issues but on the highway I don't know how long that battery will actually last in the colder temperatures.”

“Up here the population has a lot of full size trucks, a lot of diesel trucks, and going the electric way up here? I think it’ll take a lot longer to adapt,” Gualtieri said.

Toyota’s Palumbo is confident that Saultites will buy more EVs in the years ahead.

“It’s in the primary stages but there has been consumer interest,” he saide.

“Toyota feels that electric is going to happen but the next wave is actually going to be more in the hybrid end of things. They’ll meet and exceed the 20 per cent by 2026 but the infrastructure - charging stations - particularly in Canada, isn’t there to support full electric and you’ll see the next wave between now and the next five to six years will be hybrid with a combination of gas and electric.”

“What they’re telling us is that in the next 12 months, 50 per cent or over of our sales will be a hybrid vehicle versus a strictly gas or electric vehicle. It’ll be some sort of hybrid.”

“There’s still skepticism out there about electric, especially in cold climates and they're still not 100 per cent educated on it and there needs to be more education about full electric vehicles and that’s where the hybrid comes in because it’s more like a conventional vehicle but giving you the benefits of electric without the need to plug in. Our Corollas, RAV4s and Tundras come with a hybrid option,” Palumbo said.

Consumer interest in EVs is there among GM customers, Prouse said.

“They are the future and we’ve had lots of interest generated just because of all the marketing that’s gone on with all the manufacturers. Tesla of course has been in that realm for a long time and now, pretty well within the year, we will have a wide range of electric models to choose from.”

Then there is the question of ‘will there be enough EV recharging stations?’

“I’m hoping so. Infrastructure is a thing that’s going to have to be worked on big time but it’s starting,” said Dick of World Cars.

Toyota’s Palumbo said that until enough recharging stations surface between, for example, the Sault to Toronto, hybrid will be the way to go and that hydrogen vehicles will come along six or seven years down the road.

“We’re retrofitting, changing a lot of electrical infrastructure within the store, to upgrade and be able to handle the voltage and the increase in electrical needs to recharge an EV quickly,” Prouse said of his GM dealership.

“We’re completely upgrading our infrastructure within Prouse to be able to charge a vehicle with 400 or 500 kilometres of range. You need a lot of juice. Most GM stores are doing that or have been upgraded already.”

There will be a total of five charging stations near his dealership within two months, Prouse said.

“You won’t have a hard time finding a place to charge your vehicle.”

Prouse added that GM will include, as part of the purchase price of an EV, a Level 2 charger that can be installed in an owner’s garage.

There’s also training in store for auto mechanics as well as retooling at auto dealerships as 2026 approaches.

“We have to send the mechanics to Toronto three or four times a year. We have master technicians that are fully trained right from Toyota in Toronto on how to service a hybrid vehicle,” Palumbo said.

Prouse said all of his mechanics are in the midst of training. Five of them went out of town for training before Christmas and another group is going for training soon.

“Training is a huge issue. It’s expensive but it’s also necessary. Training is an ongoing task but we’ll be up and running.”

For now, electric vehicle retraining for mechanics isn’t commonly found at independent garages.

“We’ve had no training available to us. Right now any electric vehicle training is specific to the dealers. The dealers are getting training but there’s nothing in the aftermarket for us right now, but they are working on it,” said Domenic Varano, Excel Auto Repair owner/operator.

“There’s the safety part of it.”

“You’re dealing with these batteries and when you’re plugged in you can be anywhere from 400 volts or 700 volts coming from the recharging station to the batteries and you have to wear special gloves, special clothing. If you’re working on the system when it’s live you need somebody nearby so that if something goes wrong they have a pole to pull you away from the car. This is the information I’ve been getting but for us to get any kind of training right now, it’s slim to none.”

“NAPA’s looking into it for us because they do provide us with training for the regular cars with new information and new equipment, new tools, so they’re looking into the long term training for the electric cars,” Varano said. 

Mechanics from independent garages will have to travel to southern Ontario for training or attend a training session offered by visiting mechanics, the sessions usually taking place over one day or two evenings, Varano said.


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Darren Taylor

About the Author: Darren Taylor

Darren Taylor is a news reporter and photographer in Sault Ste Marie. He regularly covers community events, political announcements and numerous board meetings. With a background in broadcast journalism, Darren has worked in the media since 1996.
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