SIMS: Trudeau's EV mandate will break the bank

Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.Remember a few days ago when Alberta’s energy distributor told people to stop using toasters because the electricity grid was at risk of blacking out?Albertans were warned to stop cooking on stoves and taking hot showers.You know, modern life, circa 1955.The interesting part about that energy warning is the government also told us to not charge electric cars.If we’re being told to stop using our hair dryers, how are we going to charge our government-mandated EVs we will soon be forced to have? The Trudeau government is banning the sale of new gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035.Trudeau’s forced EV mandate will cost a shocking amount of money for taxpayers, and Canada doesn’t have the juice to power these electric vehicles. And, this plan is a non-starter for two key reasons:First, let’s look at the costs.Various levels of government have pledged about $57 billion to car companies that are pledging to make EVs, including billions for Volkswagen and Honda.That’s the corporate welfare cost, with governments pouring taxpayers’ money onto the boardroom tables in Berlin and Tokyo.Then there’s the sticker price on the EVs in the lots.If the Trudeau government forces Canadians to buy only electric powered vehicles, it will sharply increase costs for people.The cheapest new electric car in Canada sells for about $41,000, with a vehicle like a Nissan Leaf eligible for a $5,000 rebate from the feds.Last year, Canadians bought about 1.7 million new vehicles, the majority of them were cars, SUVs and light trucks. If those vehicles were all EVs, the cost of the rebates would be about $8 billion.With the cheapest new gasoline-powered sedan selling for about $21,000, and with no rebate costs to taxpayers, there’s a big price difference for both the person buying the car and taxpayers.What about power bills?The average Canadian home uses about 10,861 kWh in electricity per year. The average electric car uses about 4,310 kWh of energy per year, according to EVBox, a company that produces electric vehicle chargers.The average family’s electricity use would jump by about 40 per cent if they had one EV and charged it at home.Where is the electricity for these EVs coming from?Calculations done in British Columbia show if everyone switched to an electric car in B.C., the province would need about nine new Site C Dams.Site C has cost about $16 billion and has taken about 10 years to build, so far. Creating nine new Site C Dams tomorrow would cost about $144 billion.In Alberta, hydro dams aren’t happening, natural gas is being hampered by the feds, and so that leaves nuclear. Building a regular nuclear reactor costs about $15 billion and takes about 10 years to complete.Alberta is home to about three million vehicles, and if they were all electric, that fleet would use about 12.9 million mWh of power per year. The province would require about three nuclear plants to charge those vehicles.Who’s paying that tab? Taxpayers? Folks opening their power bills?We’ve watched this macabre theatre before.Around 2015, the Ontario government signed contracts to buy “green” energy and folks faced rocketing power bills, with some eclipsing $1,000 per month.Ontario’s auditor general discovered that people overpaid on their power bills by $37 billion because of government meddling with the electricity system.Today, record numbers of working families across Canada are visiting food banks and about half of Canadians are within $200 every month of not being able to make the minimum payments on their bills.They can’t afford higher power bills.If Albertans are being told to eat trail mix for supper to save the electricity grid today, where is the electricity and cash going to come from to charge up the mandatory Trudeau Trolley parked in the driveway tomorrow?Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

SIMS: Trudeau's EV mandate will break the bank

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