Once touted as a key part of fighting climate change, the provincial and federal governments are now eyeing whether to roll back electric vehicle mandates to deal with flatlining demand and what seem like unachievable short-term targets.
Energy Minister Adrian Dix confirmed B.C. is looking at altering its EV program and mandates to respond to factors like rising vehicle costs, the U.S. trade war and public backlash over leading EV manufacturer Tesla.
“We’re looking at it all, we’re looking at what the best way is to continue to climb,” Dix said in an interview.
“I’m very optimistic about the mid-term future. But we have to look at it all—not whether we have mandates, but what the mandates are.”
The BC NDP government passed a law in 2019 that mandates 26 per cent of all new light-duty vehicle sales be EVs by 2026, rising to 90 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.
The province had in the past appeared to be cruising to shatter the 2026 targets. But B.C.’s rate slid to 19.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2025, and largely stalled out in the two years prior, according to S&P Global. The New Car Dealers Association of B.C. has also called on government to and redouble efforts to create more charging stations and financial incentives.
Federally, automobile manufacturers emerged from a meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney this week “” he might repeal the federal EV mandates. The national targets are less aggressive in the short term, at only 20 per cent next year, but still reach 100 per cent new light-duty sales by 2035.
“The EV mandate is impossible to achieve,” Brian Kingston, president of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, told . “Twenty per cent of EV sales in 2026—we just hit sales of 8.7 per cent last month. There is simply no way to close that gap and if this regulation stays in place, automakers will have no choice but to start restricting internal combustion engine vehicle sales in Canada by the hundreds of thousands. This will be devastating to the industry and dealerships across Canada.”
Ottawa ended its $5,000 EV rebates late last year. B.C. followed suit shortly after, ending its $4,000 rebate program. Combined with rising auto prices, threats to the sector from U.S. tariffs, and limited supply of vehicles, the end of financial incentives caused EV sales to plummet nationally and provincially.
B.C. is considering changing the 2030 target of 90 per cent new EV sales, as well as relaxing minimums and definitions for things like plug-in hybrids, according to a June internal presentation obtained and released by Energy Futures BC.
Some of the changes would target the credit and requirement program for large and medium transportation companies, whose pollution emissions continue to rise outside of government’s CleanBC targets, according to the presentation.
The province is also considering granting more credits to auto companies for EV sales if they offer discounts to consumers such as low-interest financing, complimentary home chargers and discounts off the MSRP.
Dix said the government has been meeting with auto manufacturers to solicit input on changes.
“We need targets we can reasonably meet, and then we need to meet them—and that’s the important thing,” said Dix.
B.C. can’t ignore the dynamics in Ottawa, as well as what Dix called “a seeming attack on EVs” by U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
“We’re absolutely looking at things because you’ve got to be practical,” Dix said. “These external things are happening whether we like it or not.”
Rob Shaw has spent more than 17 years covering B.C. politics, now reporting for CHEK ¾¢±¬´ó¹Ï and writing for The Orca/BIV. He is the co-author of the national bestselling book A Matter of Confidence, host of the weekly podcast Political Capital, and a regular guest on CBC Radio.
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