More Canadians than ever want to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle (EV), but most won’t be able to plant their butt in a driver’s seat anytime soon.
Driving the news: Canada is dealing with a backlog of new vehicle deliveries, particularly for EVs, as automakers face a continued lack of crucial parts, like semiconductor chips.
- On top of getting stiffed by chipmakers, EV car makers also rely on sourcing critical minerals (which are currently caught up in a separate bottleneck) to make batteries.
Why it matters: One in four Canadian adults are considering buying an EV, but they might not get the chance if supply chain snarls and years-long wait times continue unabated.
- The success of Tesla challengers like Rivian and Lucis would increase supply, but these companies are still losing money due to materials and production costs.
- An inability to get EVs into driveways is bad news for the government’s EV transition plan, which aims to have EVs account for 10% of all new vehicle sales by 2025.
Zoom out: Even if carmakers fix supply chain kinks, EVs remain a wildly unaffordable option for drivers, not to mention that the stations to charge them are still few and far between.