Five things to know about Quebec law aimed at boosting electric vehicle sales

MONTREAL – A law in Quebec that requires automakers to sell a minimum number of zero-emission vehicles beginning with their 2018 models is causing alarm within the industry. Here are five things to know about the legislation:

— At least 3.5 per cent of auto sales of 2018 models must be from electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. That threshold rises to 15.5 per cent as of 2025.

— Less than one per cent of auto sales in Quebec were of electric vehicles last year.

— Auto manufacturers that don’t meet the threshold will have to buy credits from other companies that do.

— The provincial government aims to have 100,000 electric vehicles on Quebec roads by 2020. As of last August, there were 11,619 electric vehicles, according to the Environment Department’s website. It does not specify how many plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are in the province.

— Quebec’s law is the only one of its kind in Canada. Ten U.S. states have similar legislation.