Sales of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) reached another peak in Canada in the second quarter of 2024, accounting for 12.9 percent of all new vehicle sales.
This comes as sales figures in general showed robustness in the period between April and June, with new vehicle registrations during Q2 matching figures seen in 2019, before the pandemic.
ZEVs, or zero-emission vehicles, account for a significantly higher percentage of vehicle sales compared with last year, when they accounted for 10.1 percent of transactions during the same period. The increase is due to jumps in sales of both all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The Q2 performance is also up compared to the first quarter of 2024, when 11.3 percent of new vehicles sold were considered zero-emission.
In all, 65,733 zero-emission vehicles sold in Canada between April and June, out of a total of 511,173 units sold during the period, according to data published by Statistics Canada on September 9.
In terms of growth, plug-in hybrid vehicles recorded the biggest increase, with a 43.1 percent jump in year-on-year sales. In the case of all-electric models, the year-on-year increase was 36.1 percent.
However, all-electric vehicles continue to account for the majority of sales of zero-emission vehicles, with three-quarters of the total.
Quebec leads, by a lot
Across Canada, zero emission vehicle sales were highest in Quebec; the province accounted for 51.5 percent of all ZEV purchases. Ontario and British Columbia followed with 21.9 and 18.5 percent respectively.
Manitoba saw the biggest proportional increase in the adoption of zero-emission vehicles. 736 new vehicles were put on the road there in the second quarter, an increase of 92.2 percent on the previous year. This isn’t exactly shocking, since last April, the government introduced a $4,000 incentive for the purchase of a zero-emission vehicle.
Continued progress
Sales of electric vehicles in Canada continue to climb. Globally, it’s true that demand has slowed, but more precisely, EV market percentages continue to grow, only less strongly than anticipated. Which is why, even though more and more electric vehicles are being bought, automakers are revising their targets and strategies.
