Zero Emission Vehicle Legislation and Regulation
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Overview
Who:
- The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change
- The Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation
- CleanBC
- Car manufacturers
What: To enact Zero Emission Vehicle legislation in Spring 2019
Where: Province-wide
Why: To meet greenhouse gas emission reduction targets
How: Online survey
Engagement summary
The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) standard is intended to ensure that cleaner vehicles are more available and competitively priced, making them more affordable and accessible to the average resident and B.C. fleet operator. It is intended to also support the growth of B.C.’s broader clean energy vehicle sector, which in 2019, included 198 countries and 3,850 employees, and represented approximately $700 million a year in direct economic activity.
The Zero-Emission Vehicles Act (ZEV Act) was first passed on May 30, 2019, requiring automakers to meet escalating annual levels of light-duty ZEV sales in the province of 10% by 2025, 30% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. B.C. exceeded its ZEV sales targets each year between 2019 and 2022.
In Summer 2022, The Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions (the ministry) initiated the first review of the ZEV Act through the release of an intentions paper to invite comments from interested parties. The ministry also held a webinar for vehicle suppliers and met with technical interested parties that requested individual meetings. In addition, the ministry engaged with First Nations in B.C. through a CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 Indigenous engagement process.
Results
Input gathered during the Summer 2022 engagements informed the final proposed amendments to the ZEV Act. In November 2023, the ZEV Act’s provincial targets were accelerated to reach 26% of light-duty and Class 2B (trucks) ZEV sales by 2026, 90% by 2030 and 100% by 2035. The phase-out year on the sale of new internal-combustion engine vehicles, which has been changed from Jan. 1, 2040, to Jan. 1, 2035, is part of the commitments within the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030.
Related engagements
