The Ontario government announced today it is working with Magna International and its majority-owned Magna E-Car division to assist in the development of a concept electric car, parts for hybrid and plug-in vehicles, components made of lightweight and bio-based materials, and an alternative energy project, details of which were not disclosed. The announcement is expected to lead to the creation of 738 new jobs and the protection of more than 1,300 jobs at Magna facilities in Aurora, Brampton, Concord and St. Thomas.

The government release didn’t mention dollars, but reports earlier in the day suggested that the government would be contributing $48 million toward what will be a $432 million R&D investment. This comes after a number of earlier EV-focused announcements, including Toyota’s disclosure last month that it will build its RAV4 electric vehicle at its plant in Woodstock, Ontario, and the government’s announcement a week later that it is creating an $80 million fund to help spur development and deployment of EV charging infrastructure in the province. Oh, and there was also the $2 million investment in Dana Holding Corp. toward building battery cooling systems for hybrid and plug-in vehicles.

A lot has happened in less than a month. Things are starting to come together… cautiously optimistic.

Honda has always poo-pooed the industry-wide move to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, stubbornly sticking to the idea that fuel-cell vehicles were the future. For example, it has been highly critical of GM’s Volt concept. Takeo Fukui, the company’s president, said in 2008 that he saw “no value in developing plug-in hybrid vehicles.” As recently as this May, the company’s head of research and development, Tomohiko Kawanabe, said it was questionable whether consumers will accept electric vehicles and the “annoyance” of limited driving range and the need to charge the vehicles. “We lack confidence (in the business),” he said. “We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can’t say I can wholeheartedly recommend them.”

Two months later, the company is changing its tune. It announced today that it will begin selling two new plug-in electric vehicles in the United States in 2012, making it one of the last major automakers to join the electric vehicle party. One will be a small all-electric commuter vehicle, while the other will be a plug-in hybrid capable of travelling longer distances. Why the company suddenly changed its position is unclear, but being a loyal Honda driver I’m glad it came to its senses.