Standing room only at Sudbury's first battery electric vehicle conference

It was standing room only inside the city of Sudbury's first battery electric vehicle (BEV) conference Thursday at Science North.

Post-secondary academics, Indigenous leaders, reps from the mining and automobile sectors all had one thing in common: they're looking to help Canada transition to electric vehicles while cementing Sudbury's place in the supply chain.

"I'm really excited and impressed to see all of these industries come together to talk about the EV supply chain in Canada and to have all these different sectors come together to really talk about how they can collaborate to make the EV supply chain happen," said Devin Arthur, from the EV Association of Sudbury.

"We wanted to discuss everything from mineral extraction, to auto manufacturing, to battery manufacturing and battery recycling because Canada has that unique opportunity where we can take advantage of all those facets of the EV supply chain."

Panelists came from as far away as Vancouver, among the many out-of-towners keeping an eye on the city's potential as a source for a lot of critical minerals to make the transition happen.

"What I'm hoping is that we put Sudbury on the map today," Arthur said.

"I know that's a bold statement but I really hope that's the case and I hope that in the future, we can get similar industry folks to come back to Sudbury to continue this discussion because it's not going to happen overnight and we need to continue planning for years to come."

The majority of the people in the Cavern at Science North said the transition to electric vehicles is not so much a question of if, but when.

"Sudbury can be at the forefront of this transition and at the forefront globally, not just in Canada," said Wilf Steimle, president of the Electric Vehicle Society of Canada who made the trip to Sudbury from Innisfil, in his electric vehicle.

"You've got all the right pieces here, you've got all the raw minerals."

The event was billed as a union between north and southern Ontario, combining mining and the manufacturing sector.

"It's very important that this conference is being held here as opposed to Toronto," said David Adams, of Global Automakers of Canada.

"What this conference is doing is knitting together the automotive industry from southern Ontario with the mining industry of northern Ontario."

Unanswered questions

For many people, there are still unanswered questions when it comes to EVs, such as can the electricity grid handle the bigger drain of power? Could every Canadian switch to EV tomorrow if they wanted to?

Experts like Nadia Mykytczuk said the transition is going to take a little work.

"The grid, like many other infrastructure pieces, has to change dramatically," said Mykytczuk, who is also interim CEO of Mirarco.

"We have to think about how we're going to provide that electricity to charge the batteries, to run all these cars. And so that's where all these stakeholders are important. We have to talk to the energy producers, we have to talk about green energy."

In the meantime, much of that recycling is now underway with vehicles that are no longer needed. Places like the Glencore smelter are already seeing it.

"It's happening," said Sari Muinonen, Glencore's manager of custom feed.

"Materials are already coming to the Glencore smelter that are from battery producers and so we are setting up more now to be able to take more and more."

Among some of the panelists were NORONT Resources, which said it's looking into committing $25 million toward a battery plant somewhere in Ontario. It'll also soon be rebranding as Wyloo after its recent acquisition.

Developers said if they can do this properly, with the inclusion of Indigenous partners, this will likely mean big things for the region moving forward.