The government still wants Canadians to switch over to EVs (not hybrids). But where will we sell all the EVs it wants our industry to make?

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Does anyone know what an “aspirational goal” is? “Aspiration” and “goal” are synonyms, so it’s a little like saying “goal-ish goal.” On the other hand, the dictionary defines “aspiration” as “a hope or ambition of achieving something” and “goal” as “the object of a person’s ambition or effort,” which sounds a little more concrete and immediate. So an “aspirational goal” may be a sort of hope-y thing we’re after but don’t really expect to get to.

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I ask because the backgrounder to the prime minister’s announcement that it now won’t be illegal in 2030 to sell a new gas-powered car in this country says our “aspirational goal,” which we’re going to pursue instead, is “achieving a 90 per cent EV adoption rate by 2040.” We’ll get there with highly visible little carrots and one really big but largely hidden stick.

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