The Ontario auto sector folks are milking this a ton, and our Govt seems to not be registering what they’re explicitly saying – and are eating it up. The govt is busy putting tariffs on the viable EVs of today because the Auto industry floated a piece of total vapourware, that they openly admit even in this article is not a prototype for production, but rather a “platform” to show off the sub-component manufacturers and what they can do.
You can’t put any weight in the $35k 2029 type claims, as there’s no intention to make this car from any manufacturer / business / the project leads. They aren’t even trying to sell the whole car, but just the individual bits that go into it, in business to business interactions – not business to consumer. If there were an actual business case that showed you could mass produce these cars in Canada at a profit, it’d get picked up and done. But it’s not.
This project being used to get our govt to block things like BYD, is looking more and more like how Musk used a vapour project like Hyperloop to derail high speed mass transit options in the USA, which would’ve competed with Tesla for eco friendly transport options. Using the Arrow, the niche auto manufacturer companies in Ontario, who are all intimately tied to US company interests, is able to block non-US companies from competing fairly in Canada’s market.
By APMA figuring, a compact SUV model Arrow could roll off a Canadian assembly line by 2029 with a sticker price of $35,000, he added, ready to be one of the two million cars sold each year in Canada.
2029? Too late. In my opinion, If they can’t hit the market by the end of 2025, maybe 2026, they might as well walk away now.
Ah I was hoping for something more kia soul like,most practical vehicle I’ve owned
Nah, the real Arrow EV that should revolutionize the industry is this one: https://urbanarrow.com/en-na/
Time to deport forigners and stop accepting and paying for refugee claims from Indian students or Nigerians who say they are unsafe back home but take a months vacation back to the place they are supposedly fleeing for their lives from.
If I were to get a new car, I want them to be something that isn’t just “tablet on wheels”.
Slowly, auto makers are moving back towards having actual buttons on things. Screens aren’t likely to go anywhere, but the age of “everything’s just a touch panel” is slowly coming to an end.
Touch panels are only cool in Star Trek
Even Tom Paris wanted buttons back
China makes a hybrid for 14k. I’m guessing we will have those retaliatory tariffs from China in perpetuity to protect this, and protect ourselves from lower prices.
I don’t think you can make a safe and practical EV for 14k without resorting to slave labour. The battery required to drive a range expected by Canadians will cost most of that alone.
It could be government subsidized with the requirement that it be under a certain cost. Or like a contract to see who could build a certain number of cars for a certain price and meet certains standards plus public chargers
They also willfully depress their currency.
It would be cool if they were doing something like the slate, but a street price of $35k cad is decent
Ah lovely, another grey egg shaped “luxury” electric EV. Groundbreaking. This one has some nationalism attached to it too.
These won’t really solve any problem, other than in the best case scenario keeping some people employed in southern Ontario. If we actually want to increase our independence or even become climate leaders this isn’t how to do it.
Cool, care to share what would do it?
Invest in public transit, HSR connecting southern Ontario cities, and rezone/build bikeable/walkable neighbourhoods with increased density. Bonus for rent control and affordable non-market housing. Basically do the opposite of Ford’s attempt to turn Ontario into one big 401.
Don’t waste your time, they clearly didn’t read the article. Their loss, was a good read.
Another EV startup? Yeah, slate and Edison are cool, but I kinda wonder just how big the market is.
Smaller market maybe, but might be popular with those that don’t want ads served to them through the infotainment center like the big auto manufactures are doing. No infotainment means less bullshit. I’m ready for a simplified life.
Well, Edison is really just aiming at the trucking sector, not passenger cars (yet).
