Interest in electric cars is hitting unprecedented records in Canada, where sales of all EVs (pure and plug-in hybrid) in the calendar year to date has exceeded the previous three years combined.
Total EV sales have almost doubled for the past two years year-on-year (and 2018 is still not over), and market share of EVs in provinces are hitting nearly 10 per cent in most provinces, pushing just over 15 per cent alone in British Columbia, in a trend that indicates growing traction for EV sales across the country.
Battery electric sales were almost on par with plug-in hybrid sales, a trend that has also been solid throughout the past three years.
The graphs, which have been has been put together by Canadian fleet news site fleetcarma, show sales of EVs in Canada have increased by 158 per cent to 35,000 total sales for the year to the end of September compared to the same time 2017, topping 13,000 sales for the third quarter of 2018 alone.
It’s “an impressive trend which could see a doubling of EV sales in Canada by the end of this year,” writes Eric Schmidt.
While numbers aren’t quite impressive as in the US, where 234,635 EVs were sold by the end of September 2018, the figures show that interest in EVs is maintaining strong momentum despite predictions that the EV market in Canada would crash with Ontario, where EV sales have been strongest, winding up incentives in July 2018.
While data from Green Car Reports previously shared by The Driven showed that the Nissan Leaf was Canada’s favourite EV by a hair’s breadth of 186 cars against the recently introduced Tesla Model 3, the new data indicates that the Model 3 has shaped up as the most popular EV for the third quarter.
Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.