Electric Vehicle Sales In Canada, Q3 2017

This is an excerpt from the FleetCarma blog.

 

The Canadian plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales for the third quarter are in!

The Fast Five

+56%

Canadian year-over-year sales growth.  Canadian EV sales for the first 9 months of the year are up 56%. 9-month sales in 2016 were 7,996. By contrast, 9-month sales in 2017 were 12,470.   2017 sales have been accelerated by an expanding lineup of fully electric vehicles, including the Chevrolet Bolt, Hyundai Ioniq, and Volkswagen e-Golf.

+96%

Ontario year-over-year sales growth.  Ontario EV sales for the first 9 months of the year are up 96%. On a %-of-sales basis, Ontario has historically lagged BC and Quebec despite having a strong sales incentive.  As a result of the provincial EVCO program, the number of fast chargers in Ontario has risen from 5 to 140 over the past year, not including Tesla Superchargers.  This dramatic and recent rise in fast charging infrastructure puts Ontario on par with infrastructure in Quebec and BC and appears to be having an impact on EV sales.  In addition, the promise of free overnight charging has resonated with potential EV owners and there remains excitement within the industry on how and when that program will be rolled out.

41,695

Total EVs in Canada. The number of EVs in Canada surpassed 40,000 in the third quarter.  Canada crossed the 20,000 mark in early 2016.  A year and a half later, that number has doubled.

>1%

EVs as a fraction of overall vehicle sales in September.  EV sales in September were 2,171.  The first time monthly sales have topped 2,000.  While Statistics Canada hasn’t published the final September total motor vehicle sales numbers, the final tally is expected to be between 185,000 and 195,000.  The result is that EV sales have topped 1% of total motor vehicle sales for the first time in Canadian history.  FleetCarma generally presents 3-month trailing average due to end-of-quarter surges in Tesla registration; however, the September numbers are remarkable enough to present as a stand-alone result.  *please note: this post will be updated once the final numbers are posted to the Statistics Canada website.

41

The number of electric vehicle models currently on Canadian roads. 26 plug-in hybrids and 15 battery electric vehicles.  The new addition in the third quarter was the Cadillac CT6.

Overall, Canada continues to see EV sales continue to grow and set new records every quarter.