TORONTO – Ontario’s plan for a complete electric vehicle supply chain, once a strong focus for Premier Doug Ford, has been struggling as manufacturers push back or scrap their plans. Now, the government is shifting its attention toward different types of batteries to help keep things going.
Ford and the federal government worked out deals to set up three electric vehicle battery plants in Ontario – investments worth billions. They aimed not only to see those batteries used in EVs produced locally but also to have them manufactured with parts sourced from Ontario and with minerals mined and processed within the province.
A few years after presenting this vision, however, its initial promise seems to be fading.
Honda had planned to establish an EV battery plant and build electric vehicles in Alliston but delayed that project due to falling demand. Umicore has paused its plans for a cathode facility in eastern Ontario. General Motors stopped making its Bright Drop electric delivery van in Ingersoll. Ford postponed its plans for producing electric vehicles in Oakville, opting instead for its F-Series gas-powered pickup trucks.
The auto industry in Ontario faces further challenges, according to the premier, stemming from a new agreement between Canada and China that will lift 100 percent tariffs on Chinese EVs in exchange for China easing tariffs on canola. However, some experts argue that allowing Canadians access to cheaper Chinese EVs might actually boost overall demand for green vehicles and support the domestic industry over time.
Globally, interest in electric vehicles is increasing, but uncertainty regarding rebates is dampening enthusiasm in Canada. Concerns over federal EV sales mandates and trade relations with the U. S. are also shaking investor confidence, experts say.
Stellantis is taking a different approach during this downturn.
The construction of its Next Star Energy facility in Windsor was already well underway when trends began changing. Although it too has decided to delay producing EV batteries, it retooled operations to manufacture batteries intended for energy storage instead.
Demand for electric vehicles will eventually come back, said Next Star CEO Danies Lee during an interview; however right now there’s more need for storage batteries and other applications like AI-powered machines.
“As an EV battery manufacturer, we faced a huge setback due to the market conditions,” Lee stated. “But as a battery manufacturer that works across various applications it’s a great opportunity.”
Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli commented that this pivot allows the plan for an all-encompassing EV supply chain to keep moving forward, albeit with a somewhat altered final step at least temporarily.
“(Stellantis’ pivot) is with our full understanding, our blessing, and indeed our encouragement,” he mentioned during an interview last month.
Those storage batteries require many of the same minerals expected to be mined and ideally refined here in Ontario along with components such as separators produced locally. Asahi Kasei’s separator manufacturing facility planned for the Niagara Region will proceed despite being initially linked with Honda’s earlier EV plans.
The government isn’t interested in intervening to stimulate demand for electric vehicles or their batteries; Fedeli indicated that what they really want is companies building here-what they produce is secondary.
“These are multi-billion dollar multinational companies who’ve made choices about what they want to build; they need market support,” he noted.
“If they want us to assist them with something new we’ll do so because job creation matters more than what exactly gets built.” He added how quick his response was when Ford (Motor Co.) approached him about switching their production line from EVs back towards F-150 pickups: “The answer took about five seconds.”
This marks quite a shift from just eighteen months ago when Fedeli was very optimistic about prospects surrounding Ontario’s EV supply chain.
“Electric vehicle sales are increasing every year without fail,” he had stated confidently back then. “We’re absolutely certain we’ve made all the right moves making Ontario the top choice globally for establishing an electric vehicle supply chain.” This was said back in July 2024.
Joanna Kyriazis from Simon Fraser University remarked that North America will see renewed interest in electric vehicles matching global sales trends soon enough.
“Globally,” Kyriazis continued , “EV sales continue breaking records.” “They increased by 20 percent worldwide throughout 2025.” (She mentioned how countries like China were experiencing over fifty percent of new car sales being electrics while EU numbers hovered around thirty percent). She also observed similar spikes occurring even among less developed nations such as Brazil and Thailand driven largely by access affordability through low-cost Chinese offerings. “This trend highlights significant shifts toward cleaner technologies across varied markets,”Kyriazis concluded her thoughts on this growth potential opportunity ahead!...<![CDATA[b]/b/d/u/b/e/a/r o t f y o e n v i d e! R]]]>.n[r]]>[] ]<![]/.)'<j][f ]]]/2[[0[[. tinputx:x[12]dj[“{W, s}, J, u, m}]=*>&/.‘{_}”{}{}}{{“{}/'””a=Zg@ch<s/((+!
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“Globally,” Kyriazis continued , “EV sales continue breaking records.” “They increased by 20 percent worldwide throughout 2025.” (She mentioned how countries like China were experiencing over fifty percent of new car sales being electrics while EU numbers hovered around thirty percent). She also observed similar spikes occurring even among less developed nations such as Brazil and Thailand driven largely by access affordability through low-cost Chinese offerings. “This trend highlights significant shifts toward cleaner technologies across varied markets,”Kyriazis concluded her thoughts on this growth potential opportunity ahead!...<![CDATA[b]/b/d/u/b/e/a/r o t f y o e n v i d e! R]]]>.n[r]]>[] ]<![]/.)'<j][f ]]]/2[[0[[. tinputx:x[12]dj[“{W, s}, J, u, m}]=*>&/.‘{_}”{}{}}{{“{}/'””a=Zg@ch<s/((+!
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