British Columbia is leading the way in zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption rate in North America, beating out both Quebec and California.
According to the province’s 2021 Zero-Emission Vehicle Update, 13 per cent of new light-duty vehicles sales were ZEVs.
That is nearly double the sales percentages of other ZEV leaders in Quebec and California.
In terms of sheer volume, Quebec and British Columbia made up almost 80 per cent of ZEV sales in Canada.
While in the US, California accounted for nearly half of the entire country’s ZEV sales.
The BC numbers are impressive. In a single year, registered electric vehicles jumped from 56,000 in 2020 to more than 80,000 in 2021.
That is a 44 per cent increase in a single year.
Bruce Ralston, BC Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation noted that:
“The annual ZEV update shows that people and businesses in BC are eager to make the switch to cleaner energy, and we’re helping people make this transition through our CleanBC Go Electric suite of programs.”
However, the update also highlighted that the new CleanBC programs targeting the medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicle sectors are also working.
The Commercial Vehicle Pilots has provided $9.6 million since January 2021. This funding goes to support the commercial adoption of ZEVs and supporting infrastructure.
At the same time, the Special-Use Vehicle Incentive continues to provide rebates for ZEV specialty-use vehicles.
So far, the program has provided $3.5 million on 777 rebates.
