VW PowerCo pushes St. Thomas battery plant to 2029 as Canada’s EV bet softens

Volkswagen’s PowerCo battery plant in St. Thomas, Ont., is the latest major Canadian electric-vehicle project to slip as softer demand prompts automakers and suppliers to rethink timelines.

CBC News reporting on Oct. 3 said PowerCo has pushed production at the St. Thomas site back two years to 2029, citing “evolving market demand,” while construction continues. When announced in 2023, the plant was billed as eventually producing enough cells for roughly one million EVs a year. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada said Ottawa has contributed $700 million so far to construction and that Ontario is responsible for one-third of the $13.2 billion in production subsidies governments agreed to provide — support largely tied to output, so a later start could shrink the eventual public cheque. A separate CBC London report said PowerCo framed the 2029 start as allowing next-generation battery technology and flexible scaling, after naming EllisDon as general contractor for the roughly $7-billion gigafactory originally aimed at 2027. Across Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia, other EV and battery projects have been delayed, cancelled, suspended, substantially changed or, in one case, gone bankrupt as demand lagged early forecasts.

Statistics Canada figures cited by CBC show battery-only EV new registrations rose 37.4 per cent in the second quarter of 2026 year over year, while zero-emission vehicles including hybrids reached 58,811 new registrations, up 26.7 per cent. Transport Canada data put electric vehicles at 11.7 per cent of new light-duty sales in the first quarter of 2026, down from a 15.4 per cent peak in 2024. Ottawa has scrapped EV sales requirements in 2026 and is consulting until Oct. 29 on replacement emissions standards. Clean Energy Canada’s Joanna Kyriazis argued the investments are meant to last decades and that grid storage could absorb surplus cells, while University of Guelph economist Ross McKitrick said governments tried to force a market larger than buyers have delivered.

Sources: CBC News — Canada EV battery investments; CBC News — PowerCo St. Thomas delay.