Ontario is looking at ways to get electric cars on the road sooner, a move that could put it at odds with other provinces that are pushing hydrogen technology.
Premier Dalton McGuinty says he’s backing a U.S. company that plans to build battery recharging stations for electric cars in the province.
California-based Better Place also plans to build a car demonstration and education centre in Toronto and establish an office in the city.
McGuinty says it’s a first step towards meeting massive consumer demand for greener vehicles, as Ontario’s troubled auto industry struggles to reinvent itself.
But he didn’t say how much money the province is prepared to put on the table to help build the necessary infrastructure or encourage automakers to produce electric cars.
The government says it will release a study by May that will look at ways to speed up the introduction of electric vehicles on Ontario roads.
