Cost Benefit Analysis of Vehicle Emissions Reduction Policies in Canada: A Case Study of Zero-Emission Vehicles

Abstract

Canada has been at the forefront of mitigating climate change by adopting strategies that align with the international objective of limiting global warming. For instance, the Canadian government has intervened in the transport sector by enacting vehicle emission reduction policies such as the ZEVs policy that encourages the adoption of EVs, FCVs, and PHEVs. The policy aligns with the Canadian governments ambitious target of getting more ZEVs on Canadian roads as a strategy to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicles by 2040, with interim goals of 10 percent by 2025 and 30 percent by 2030. However, although ZEVs offer Canada an opportunity to reduce its GHG emissions in the transport sector, there has been concern about the upfront costs associated with adopting ZEVs, which continue to be a major deterrent despite their operation and maintenance costs being low. The following research paper conducts a CBA on ZEVs compared to CVs in Canada in terms of ownership costs and environmental impact.