Whereas medium- and heavy-duty vehicles produce over 30 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions from road transportation in BC and the Province of BC has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 and Metro Vancouver has committed to becoming a carbon neutral region by 2050; And whereas the Province has enacted the Zero-Emission Vehicle Act which recognizes the importance of zero-emission vehicle sales requirements as a critical action to accelerate greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the transportation sector; yet there is currently no legislation or targets in place to increase the adoption of zero emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in BC: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM ask the Province of BC to enact zero-emission vehicle sales requirements for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation As more and more British Columbians make the switch to clean energy, the BC auto market is transitioning to electric vehicles EVs. The targets of the Zero-Emission Vehicle Act ZEV Act and the compliance requirements in the regulation increase over time allowing lead time for automakers to offer a broader range of EVs, and for governments expanded EV investments to further build a robust market for EVs, as well as charging infrastructure in rural and northern regions. As a result of governments investments to date, EV sales in BC in 2019 and 2020 were 9 of light-duty vehicle sales. The annual compliance ratios set in the regulation were selected to meet both the CleanBC EV targets and the emissions reduction targets. The government has been providing rebates for zero-emission medium and heavy-duty vehicles since 2017 to stimulate the demand for these vehicles, and to date has invested over 46 million in supporting their adoption. Through the course of the consultations on the ZEV Act and Regulation, the Province heard stakeholders express interest in a ZEV mandate for medium and heavy-duty vehicles. The ZEV Act has been written in such a way that it provides the ability to implement a medium and heavy-duty ZEV mandate via regulation. Both the ZEV Advisory Council to be formed later this year and the regular, formal reviews of the ZEV Act will provide a venue for considering the state of the ZEV medium and heavy-duty market and the feasibility of a ZEV medium and heavy-duty mandate. Some local governments, EV owner associations and environmental non-governmental organizations have expressed that they want us to set higher targets than what we have done. We welcome the opportunity to exchange data and analysis to help inform our reviews.