Electrified vehicle sales growing faster in Canada than U.S.

Article content

• In the first four months of 2024, sales growth of BEVs PHEVs was considerably stronger in Canada than in the U.S.
• Rebates play a role in Canada, but state incentives don’t seem to have as strong an effect
• Quebec has the highest concentration of BEVs, followed by Ontario and British Columbia

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Electrified vehicle sales growing faster in Canada than U.S. Back to video

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Canadians obviously don’t buy as many vehicles overall as Americans do, simply because our population is considerably smaller; but when we do buy, we’re now more likely than they to look at electrification. The rate of sales growth for battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) had been stronger in the U.S. in the last couple of years, but for 2024, we’re pulling much farther ahead.

That’s according to a new report from S&P Global Mobility, which looked at sales data from January through April of 2024, and compared it to the same periods in 2021 through 2023. The data company said “green” rebates, especially those in Quebec and British Columbia, “seem to be contributing to overall Canadian electrification adoption,” as well as higher numbers of BEVs in those provinces. Conversely, the company said that “in the U.S., with its 50 states and more complex market, state-level incentives seem to have less impact on the geographic distribution of BEV registrations.”

The volume of electrified vehicles is still growing in both countries, but it’s now slower in the U.S. From 2023 to 2024, BEV registrations were up 57%, while PHEV registrations increased by 75% in the first four months of 2024. In the U.S., Americans registered 137,000 more BEVs in January to April of 2023 than they did in the same period in 2022 — but this year, the number of BEVs in that four-month period only went up by a mere 25,000 vehicles, suggesting sales growth is flattening out.

The Canadian federal government rebates up to $5,000 on the purchase or lease of an eligible zero-emission vehicle (ZEV). British Columbia rebates between $500 and $4,000, depending on the vehicle and on the buyer’s income. Quebec currently rebates up to $7,000, but it will scale that back to a maximum of $4,000 at the beginning of 2025; then to $2,000 starting in 2026; and finally eliminating the rebates entirely on January 1, 2027.

Among other provinces, rebates are available in Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. They are not offered in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, nor any of the Territories, and Manitoba’s only just recently launched its own incentive program. Ontario had the country’s most generous at a maximum of $14,000, but the incoming provincial government cancelled it in 2018.

S&P reports that, counting all types of vehicles, Ontario has about 39% of the country’s vehicle registrations; Quebec has 24%; Alberta has 12%; and British Columbia sits at 11.6%. But when it comes to BEV registrations, Quebec consistently tops the list. In the studied period of January through April 2024, Quebec accounted for 50.6% of all fully-electric vehicles in Canada, and British Columbia had 20.6%.

That said, even though Ontario doesn’t add a provincial rebate on top of the federal one, that province still beat out B.C. at 22.5% of all Canadian BEV registrations. It seems it’s just the sheer volume of vehicles in Ontario, as BEVs made up just 5% of all registrations in Ontario in the first four months of this year. In Quebec, BEVs account for 18% of all vehicle registrations; while they’re around 15% of all of B.C. registrations. At the other end, fully electric models make up only 2.1% of Alberta’s overall vehicles.

The U.S. also has a federal incentive for BEVs, but only 15 states offer their own. Unsurprisingly, California has the highest concentration, with 34% of all BEV registrations across the country, and with a rather complicated series of available rebates. Florida is second at 8%, although it offers no rebates; and Texas is third at 7%, offering up to US$2,500 in incentives.

Across the entire U.S. in the first four months of 2024, BEVs accounted for 7% of the total number of vehicles. In California, they made up 21.4%; but only 6.6% of all vehicles in Florida; and 5.2% of everything on the road in Texas. No other state is higher than 4.5% BEV out of all its vehicles, even in those that offer incentives.

Sign up for our newsletter Blind-Spot Monitor and follow our social channels on X, Tiktok and LinkedIn to stay up to date on the latest automotive news, reviews, car culture, and vehicle shopping advice.