Do Canadians have an appetite for electric vehicles? Experts are divided
By 2028, a Honda manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ont., should be ready to pump out 240,000 electric vehicles (EVs) every single year.
This news was at the centre of a joint announcement from the Trudeau and Ford governments Thursday, marking the third investment in electric vehicle manufacturing in Ontario since 2023.
The announcement comes as the country slowly works towards its goal of achieving 100 per cent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035 for all new light-duty vehicles.
But with billions of dollars being pumped into EV manufacturing, and thousands of cars poised to hit the market, do Canadians want to buy those cars in the first place?
Getting a firm answer is tough.
A recent national survey by AutoTrader found that EV interest in car buyers has plummetted two consecutive years.
So far in 2024, 46 per cent of respondents who don’t own an EV said they would buy one.
That number is down from 56 per cent interested in 2023, and 68 per cent in 2022.
The survey found other reasons behind EV hesitancy include higher purchasing costs, and the belief that EVs are not suitable for cold weather.
Despite that, electric car purchases have been steadily increasing, according to Statistics Canada.
Of all the country’s new vehicle registrations last year, nearly 11 per cent were zero emission cars — more than 184,500 vehicles.
That number, according to the Electric Vehicle Council of Ottawa (EVCO), is just one of many other signs that show Canadian car buyers are in fact interested in EVs.
“Currently, a lot of EV models that are popular have waitlists that are months-long. Demand has never really been an issue for electric vehicles, its always been on the supply side, of not enough cars going out to consumers,” said Mike
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