The statistics are in — Canadian EV adoption is hitting an all-time high in 2021, as Statistics Canada recently reveals that more than 65,000 new battery-only and plug-in hybrid electric cars were registered in the first nine months of 2021, compared with 38,000 in 2020. Not only that, but there were more new electric-vehicle registrations in just nine months last year than in any full year before.
EVs made up one in 20 new passenger car registrations which, although indicative of exciting momentum, still places us behind the government’s target of one in two new registrations by 2030 and growth in Canada. Moreover, our growth is nowhere near what we see happening in Europe.
Although the Canadian EV market was on par with France, Germany and the United Kingdom just two years ago (sitting at 3 per cent market share), European EV adoption has since found itself on a significant upwards trajectory. As of last year EVs accounted for more than one in six new registrations in the U.K. and France, and more than one in four in Germany.
Now, the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association is reportedly lobbying the federal government ahead of the next federal budget to “triple the size of electric-vehicle rebates offered to Canadian consumers, but scrap a plan to introduce sales quotas that would force dealerships to sell a minimum number of electric cars or face fines.”
