When Barry Penner joins me on Power Struggle, he doesn’t posture – he brings evidence. And lately, the evidence has been catching up fast to what he’s been saying for months.
Penner, chair of the Energy Futures Institute and a former B.C. environment minister and attorney-general, walked me through polling that showed a decisive pattern: declining support for electric-vehicle mandates, rising opposition, and growing intensity among those pushing back.
That was before the political landscape started shifting beneath our feet.
In the weeks since our conversation, the B.C. government has begun retreating from its hardline EV stance, softening requirements and signalling more flexibility. At the same time, Ottawa has opened the door to revising its own rules, acknowledging what the market and motorists have been signalling for some time.
Penner didn’t need insider whispers to see this coming. He had the data.
Barry Penner, Chair of the Energy Futures Institute
“There was already majority opposition last year,” he told me. “Now that opposition is stronger. And the intensity of those opposed has grown.”
B.C.’s mandate remains the most aggressive in North America: 26 per cent ZEV sales by 2026, 90 per cent by 2030, and 100 per cent by 2035. Yet recent sales paint a different picture. Only 13 per cent of new vehicles sold in June were electric. “Which means 87 per cent weren’t,” Penner notes. “People had the option. And 87 per cent chose a non-electric.”
Meanwhile, Quebec has already adjusted its mandate to give partial credit for hybrids. Polling shows 76 per cent of British Columbians want the same. The trouble? “There’s a long waiting list to get one,” Penner says.
Cost, charging access and range remain the top barriers for consumers. And with rebates shrinking or disappearing altogether, the gap between policy ambition and practical reality is now impossible for governments to ignore.
Penner’s advice is simple, and increasingly unavoidable: “Recognition of reality is in order.”
- Now watch Barry Penner’s full video interview with Stewart Muir on Power Struggle here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEVFzWNA728
- Audio and full transcript: https://ow.ly/WcIc50XbZbP
And:
- Energy Futures Institute website: https://energyfuturesinstitute.ca/
- Power Struggle website: https://powerstruggle.ca/
- Resource Works website: https://resourceworks.com/
- Barry Penner on LinkedIn: https://ow.ly/rmPZ50XbZBQ
- Stewart Muir on LinkedIn: https://ow.ly/Smiq50UWpSB
- Power Struggle on LinkedIn: https://ow.ly/KX4r50UWpUa
- Power Struggle on Instagram: https://ow.ly/3VIM50UWpUg
- Power Struggle on Facebook: https://ow.ly/4znx50UWpUs
- Power Struggle on X: https://ow.ly/tU3R50UWpVu
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