More Canadians going for BEVs, PHEVs

The movement to zero-emission vehicles continues to grow. One in eight new vehicle registrations in Canada in the third quarter were battery electric or plug-in hybrids.

S&P Global Mobility’s Canadian Automotive Insights for Q3 showed a large jump for BEVs (10.1 per cent) compared to the previous quarter (7.8 per cent) and PHEVs continuing their upward momentum (3.2 per cent compared to 2.7 per cent). S&P considers these two options as ZEVs.

Hybrids, meanwhile, were 11.6 per cent of all new vehicle registrations. Collectively, these alternative options accounted for a quarter of all registrations last quarter.

British Columbia had the highest provincial rate of electric vehicle adoption with BEVs accounting for 21.8% of all new registrations.

The results show a rebound for BEVs, which had reached 8.4 per cent in Q4 2022 before dropping to 7.1 per cent in Q1 2023.

“The third quarter also saw a robust expansion in the range of ZEVs available to consumers, with new vehicle launches including the VINFast VF 8, BMW i5, Alfa Romeo Tonale, and Dodge Hornet,” S&P’s report said.

The group noted that there was a 5.7 per cent quarter-over-quarter contraction among all light vehicles registered. Still, BEVs saw a 22.4 per cent increase in volume, while PHEVs were up 11.1 per cent in volume.

“By the end of 2023, ZEVs are projected to account for 13.5 per cent of new registrations in the market. This represents a significant increase from the current level and indicates a strong trend towards the adoption of ZEVs,” S&P said.

The group also forecasts that by the end of 2024, ZEVs will account for 18.4 per cent of the market. That would be a 5 per cent increase from the previous year. By 2025, it predicts that ZEVs will account for a quarter of the Canadian market, with a projected market share of 25.3 per cent.