Canadian governments have committed billions of dollars in recent years to attract investment in electric vehicles. The ads arrived with fanfarria and bold on how to make Canada an important player in the world market of EV.
Honda’s announcement on Tuesday that his great investment is being suspended is not the only example of a project that has not fulfilled its turnover. GM and Northvolt have called the main EV projects in Canada.
Here are the facts about where the EV investments of Canada are.
What exactly is he waiting, exactly?
In April 2024, Honda announced that it would build four new plants. One would be the first Honda EV assembly plant, another would be an EV battery plant, both in Alliston, Ontario. There would also be two plants that make the necessary components to build the batteries.
It should be an investment of $ 15 billion that would create 1,000 direct jobs and produce 240,000 vehicles a year from 2028. Federal and Ontarium governments promised $ 2.5 billion in direct and indirect incentives to make it come true.
The politicians covered the announcement in superlatives. Justin Trudeau, the prime minister at that time, called him the “largest automotive investment in the history of Canada.” The first minister of Ontario, Doug Ford, described him as “a change of play for industry.”
All that is not happening for at least two years. Honda said the decision was made due to a slowdown in the demand for EV in North America.
Volkswagen
Both in terms of dollar and in Fanfarria, VW’s announcement in April 2023 was also great. It was also described as a “change of play”, in this case by the Federal Minister of Innovation at that time, Champagne François-Philippe. Volkswagen announced that it would spend $ 7 billion to build an EV battery plant in St. Thomas, Ontario.
Once completely operational in 2027, it promises to use up to 3,000 people directly, who would make batteries for up to one million vehicles a year. It will be the largest VW plant in North America.
The federal government said it promised $ 13 billion in subsidies to attract VW. But the parliamentary budget officer said later that the amount was more like $ 16.3 billion, adding that it was too early to know if he would pay economically for taxpayers.
Once in operation, the batteries produced there must be supposed to go to vehicle assembly plants in the US. For now, they can avoid rates. The Trump administration imposed 25 percent tariffs on the automobile pieces, but at the last minute, it exempts parts subject to the existing agreement of Canada-Mexico.
Northvolt bankruptcy
The Swedish battery manufacturer declared himself in bankruptcy in March, and that is important for Canada.
Northvolt had planned to build an EV battery plant of $ 7 billion in the Montérégie region on the southern coast of Montreal. This investment was announced in 2023 and arrived with $ 2.9 billion in Financing of the Quebec government and more than $ 4 billion in federal government incentives.
It is not clear if the plans for the huge electric vehicle battery plant on the southern coast of Montreal will continue. The Quebec government has invested $ 270 million in the project so far.
For now, his future is deeply uncertain. The North American subsidiary of Northvolt said it was solvent and that it would fulfill its financial obligations. But that does not necessarily mean that the Quebec project will continue as originally planned.
Quebec’s minister of economy, Christine Fréchette, said: “Our desire is that the controller will begin looking for a buyer who will invest to take care of all the activities of North America and relaunch the Monteérégie project.”
Stellantis plant still on the way
The Nextar Energy battery plant is supposed to be online in Windsor, Ontario, at the end of this year, although a firm date has not been established. It will make batteries for up to 450,000 Stellantis vehicles per year.
The $ 5 billion project was announced in 2022 and is expected to use 2,500 people. The construction stopped in May 2023, after Stellantis said that the federal government had not lived up to its commitments. The dispute was resolved in July 2023, when federal and Ontario governments agreed a new agreement that includes $ 15 billion in tax exemptions.
Some production has begun now. Last year, workers began to assemble batteries in groups known as modules. But the production of batteries itself has not started yet.
Shortly after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, assumed the position in January, circulated rumors that Stellantis had stopped the construction and transferred 1,500 jobs to the United States.
The company said this was false. “All the investments that Stellantis has made in Canada is on his way,” said Stellantis Communications Canada Louann Gosselin.
GM EV plant is closed
GM has a factory in Ingersoll, Ontario, called Cami assembly plant. From last month, he used 1,200 workers who carry out electric delivery trucks called Brightdrop Zevo.
In April, GM announced that the plant will close completely for May, with plans to reopen it to half capacity in October.
The problems with this plant had been elaborating for some time. GM said he was making adjustments to align with the “current demand.” He acknowledged that he only sold 427 vehicles in Canada in 2024 and 1,529 in the United States.
This despite the fact that the global demand for “last mile” vehicles is growing, according to Unifor, the union represents workers at the Cami plant.
