Toronto Transportation Could Actually Be All Electric By 2050, According To A New Plan

The city of Toronto is introducing a new electrical vehicle strategy that could help make 20 percent of public vehicles electric by 2030. The plan would help the city ensure it can handle 220,000 Toronto electric cars over the next decade with the ultimate goal of ensuring all transportation is carbon energy free by 2050.

It’s certainly an ambitious goal, especially when you take into account that Toronto currently only has a total of 6,300 electric vehicles registered in the city, which makes up less than 1% of its registered vehicles.

Officials would likely need to find a way to build a surplus of charging stations by encouraging higher levels of government to get involved.

At the moment, electric cars are a cool novelty in Toronto. For example, Teslas certainly aren’t disliked by most consumers, but they also aren’t the standard.

It also probably doesn’t help that finding a charging station in the city is notoriously difficult, with fewer than 700 public charging ports located across the city.

“The City of Toronto’s Electric Vehicle Strategy ... identifies actions to help the City achieve its TransformTO goal of having 100% of transportation use low-carbon energy sources by 2050," reads an introduction on a third-party report prepared by Montreal-based Dunsky Energy Consulting. 

"These activities will have a material impact on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and providing additional co-benefits in the city.” 

CBC reported that if the city council approves the new strategy, its staff will immediately begin working on a plan to figure out how to implement it to alter the city’s transportation methods over the next 30 years.

While electric cars have yet to become the norm, they are still very much present on Toronto streets already. 

The OPP reported on Wednesday, January 8, 2020, that they had charged a 58-year-old motorist with careless driving after catching the driver flossing their teeth behind the wheel while using the Tesla’s autopilot function.

The new plan will be reviewed by the council's infrastructure committee for approval on Thursday. 

There are stories everywhere. If you spot a newsworthy event in your city, send us a message, photo, or video @NarcityCanada on Twitter and Instagram.