Canada is pouring billions of taxpayer dollars into electric vehicle battery plants, but is this the best way for policymakers to grab a piece of the EV supply chain?
It’s a question some industry watchers are asking now that the federal government has committed $13 billion toward a Volkswagen AG battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont., as well as $15 billion in funding for the construction of a Stellantis NV-LG Energy Solution battery plant in Windsor, Ont.
While batteries are a key component of the EV market, Greig Mordue, a professor of engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont., and former general manager of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, thinks the incentives were “over-the-top,” and ultimately won’t give Canada the edge over the United States it is looking for.
