New research shows that drivers of electric vehicles represent one per cent of new car owners – this, ten years after a provincial push to encourage green driving. One researcher learns more about these consumers and advocates gaining additional info on them to better tailor the strategy.

In 2010, the Province of Ontario launched an Electric Vehicle Incentive Plan designed to support the adoption of plug-in electric vehicles, reward early adopters and stimulate market demand.

Before the 10-year anniversary of this plan, Glendon Economics Professor Can Erutku wondered: Who are these drivers and what can we learn about them? Using data from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Statistics Canada, he gained some vital information about them.

Importantly, this is the first comprehensive analysis of this provincial plan and perhaps the most interesting thing about this research is that it profiles the province’s green drivers.

Through this research, Erutku discovered these environmentally minded drivers represent only one per cent of all new car drivers; they are educated; and they have longer than average commutes. He sought to know more.

“We need to know more about this consumer community. The ability to discriminate among these buyers could provide guidance on how to tailor incentive programs to more efficiently promote the dissemination of plug-in electric vehicles, and move beyond the one per cent,” he emphasizes.

The article, “A First Look at Ontario's Electric Vehicle Incentive Program: Who Are Ontario's Green Drivers?” was published in Canadian Public Policy (2020).

Government was hoping to incentivize consumers

There are two types of electric vehicles that qualified for provincial incentives in Ontario. (Note: hybrid vehicles did not qualify for incentives although they were being sold.)

• Battery electric vehicles, which plug into an external source of electricity to recharge; and
• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which plug into an external source of electricity to recharge, and also use an internal combustion engine.

Just about as soon as they were developed, these electrical vehicles were identified by many researchers, environmentalists and eco consumers, as a smart way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and harmful air pollutants.

The Ministry of Transportation cites many advantages: Electric vehicles use less (or no) fuel and benefit from lower maintenance and operating costs. Owners can also take advantage of lower electricity rates when charging at off-peak times. They could charge the vehicle at home, at work or at . Furthermore, these vehicles are eligible for , which allow drivers to drive in all provincial high-occupancy-vehicle lanes, even with only one person in the vehicle.

The Ontario government got behind this idea, roughly 10 years ago, and sought to incentivize consumers to buy electric cars. As noted, it instituted the Electric Vehicle Incentive Program in 2010 with key features such as rewarding early adopters and stimulating market demand.

The program officially ran from 2010 to 2018. The Ontario government, under Premier Doug Ford, cancelled it in 2018.

Ministry of Transportation data linked with StatsCan data to profile electric car buyers

The objective of Erutku’s research was to find who took advantage of this government plan – more specifically, he sought to identify the socio-economic characteristics of electric car buyers while the government plan was enacted. As noted, this information could assist policy-makers in developing targeted incentives to promote electric vehicles and, ultimately, reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

What is original and compelling about this research is that Erutku was able to use a unique database obtained from the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario that includes information about more than 26,000 buyers of electric cars. Matching these data to Statistics Canada 2016 Census data allowed Erutku to identify these buyers’ socio-economic characteristics.

The data from the Ministry of Transportation was obtained by Erutku via a Freedom of Information request. It contained information about the purchase of 23,632 electric vehicles between January 2012 and October 2018, including the date of purchase; the make, model, trim and type of vehicle; the applicant type; and the applicant’s postal code.

Statistics Canada census data includes characteristics for: age and sex, education, marital status, housing, income, labour, journey to work, type of dwelling, language, etc.

Erutku linked the data from Statistics Canada with the data from the Ministry of Transportation. Data linking is used to bring together information from different sources to create a new, richer dataset.

What we now know about electric car consumers

Erutku found that although the market share of plug-in electric vehicles in Ontario followed an upward trend, it remained below one per cent of the new car market for most of the program’s duration.

By linking the two databases, he determined electric car buyers were recipients of higher education and faced longer than average commute times.

He was not able to determine, however, if marital status and household income played a role in identifying electric car buyers.

Researcher suggests more information about buyers is needed

Erutku emphasizes the need to know more about these buyers. This information could provide guidance for the provincial government on how to tailor incentive programs to more efficiently promote the dissemination of electric vehicles.

It is unclear as to whether the Premier would reinstate any incentives to buy green.

To read the article, visit the journal’s . To learn more about Erutku, visit his .

To learn more about Research & Innovation at 91ŃÇÉ«, follow ; watch 91ŃÇÉ«'s new , which profiles current research strengths and areas of opportunity, such as Artificial Intelligence and Indigenous futurities; and see the snapshot infographic, a glimpse of the year’s successes.

By Megan Mueller, senior manager, Research Communications, Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation, 91ŃÇÉ«, muellerm@yorku.ca

The post Who Are Ontario’s Green Drivers and How Can We Incentivize More of Them? appeared first on Glendon Campus.

“Most courses about the European Union (EU) focus on Brussels and tend to miss the member states,” said Professor Willem Maas, but that’s not the case for his Glendon summer course, "The Netherlands and Europeanization."

The summer seminar course offers an in-depth look at the political, social and economic transformations the EU has wrought and the ways the member states have been affected through an in-depth study of one particular state, the Netherlands. It also fits well with one of the goals of the , advancing global engagement.

Although it was originally designed as an intensive study abroad course, it took place virtually in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“Even though we had to pivot quickly to an online format, which was difficult, I was nevertheless pleasantly surprised at how well the course ran,” said Maas. “It was also great that we had such strong guest speakers to supplement our readings and discussions.”

Maas is one of 91ŃÇɫ’s two Jean Monnet Chairs, positions funded by the European Union to promote excellence in teaching and research in the field of European Union studies. His field of study is European politics with a focus on migration and citizenship, and the course syllabus is chock full of readings on those topics, along with others pertinent to an understanding of Dutch political issues past and present: EU and Dutch history; border controls; colonial legacies; race; the environment; populism; war and foreign policy; inequality; law, and more.

In fact, the course wasn’t lecture-based; it was reading-focused, with Maas making himself available regularly online to discuss the topics or answer questions students had.

“Professor Maas was very reachable and responsive and the readings were very structured, so it helped keep me on track,” said Elyana Dakwar, a fourth-year political science major at Glendon.

Although the students couldn’t travel to Europe, Maas brought Europe to them in the form of guest speakers:

• Jeremy Bierbach, an EU immigration lawyer who spoke about Dutch and EU immigration policies;
• Michael O. Sharpe, a professor who spoke about the Caribbean Netherlands and issues of race and ethnicity;
• Salima Belhaj, a member of parliament, who spoke about freedom, the idea of a European army, and other subjects;
• Laurel Baig, a Canadian litigator at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague who spoke about her work and impressions of the Netherlands;
• Samira Rafaela, a member of the European parliament, who spoke about women’s rights, international trade, employment and social affairs, overseas countries and territories, and related subjects.

The course was originally designed to combine readings in June and July with an intensive travel component in August as a way to make the travel more affordable. Given the need to offer it remotely again in 2021, Maas plans to lengthen it to a standard, 12-week summer course. The expanded time period will allow for more discussion, additional speakers and a more relaxed reading schedule.

The course gives students a good understanding of the Netherlands and the EU and provides them with a chance to compare what they’re learning to Canadian institutions and policies; it also gives them a framework for evaluating any country’s systems.

“I explicitly ask them to compare the Netherlands to Canada in many cases to ensure they understand that there are other ways to design policies or look at the world,” Maas said.

Maas also wants them to get a sense of not-so-ancient history, exploring how the EU was formed to prevent another large-scale war on the European continent.

“This has been the biggest achievement of the EU,” he said. “It has been a massive change, a world historical change.”

He is currently recruiting students for the longer version of the course, which will be offered in summer 2021 (). There is a March 1 application deadline and the course is open to students in any faculty. Previous political science courses or knowledge of the EU is not required, although commitment to doing the reading analysis papers and final reflection paper is necessary.

“This course ran so well virtually last summer that I’m looking forward to offering it again this coming summer and then adding the travel component starting in summer 2022,” said Maas.

Students from the class seem to agree, if feedback is any indication.

Reid Springstead, a Glendon political science student graduating this spring, said he was disappointed not to be able to travel abroad, but learned a lot from the course nonetheless. “Professor Maas did an amazing job of moving the course online,” Springstead said. “For me, the coolest part was talking to EU politicians and others who were very involved with policy. They helped give me a good outside perspective on North America."

Although Dakwar was also disappointed to find that the course would be held online, rather than overseas, she finds she benefited from the decision, given the lockdown and the fact that the entire university pivoted to online learning in fall 2020. “It was a surprise to be studying online at the time, but it prepared me well for other online courses,” she said. “It’s just you and your own initiative to get the work done.”

In addition to expanding her knowledge of the Netherlands and the EU, Dakwar found that it was an opportunity to build her reading comprehension skills and hone her writing to make it more precise.

"This was an awesome way to gain an international perspective of politics abroad and a great way to have new experiences,” she said. “This class was a great experience, and I learned a lot about the EU. Professor Maas did a great job. It was awesome to be able to stay safe and still take the course.”

By Elaine Smith, special contributing writer, Innovatus

The post Exploring the European Union through a Dutch Lens appeared first on Glendon Campus.

By Elaine Smith, special contributing writer, Innovatus

The post Glendon's community-based initiatives improve language skills while breaking isolation appeared first on Glendon Campus.