Statistics Canada released new data yesterday that shows Canadians bought a lot of battery electric (BEV) and zero emissions vehicles (ZEV) in the second quarter of 2021.
During the three month period BEV sales across Canada increased by 165.6% compared to the same quarter in 2020. Plug-in hybrids also saw a large increase in sales, up 151.7% in the same time period.
The increases were more than three times the number of new gas (50.1%) and diesel (55.9%) registrations.
As part of the overall Canadian market in Q2 2021, the 24,006 ZEVs made up 4.9% of all new registrations.
The data also shows that the vast majority of those purchases were made in just two provinces, highlighting the importance of provincial-level rebates to help spur EV adoption.
Nearly half (11,784; 49.1%) of all ZEV registrations went to Quebec, the province with the highest rebate of $13,000 when combined with the $5,000 federal rebate.
Unsurprisingly, British Columbians accounted for nearly one quarter (5,756; 24%) of ZEV registrations. Through the CleanBC Go Electric Program, buyers can get up to $3,000 off the purchase price of a qualifying ZEV.
It wasn’t all bad news as all provinces across Canada saw an uptick in ZEV registrations. Leading the way was Prince Edward Island (+320.0%), New Brunswick (+277.4%), Ontario (+210.7%), Saskatchewan (+185.7%) and Manitoba (+136.9%).
When it comes to individual cities, Montreal had the most ZEV registrations (6,163), followed by Vancouver (3,996) and Toronto (2,810).
