Plug-in electric vehicles in Canada
The stock of plug-in electric passenger cars in Canada in use totaled 141,060 units at the end of 2019, consisting of 78,680 all-electric cars and 62,380 plug-in hybrids.[1] Sales totaled 50,960 units in 2019.[1]

The Chevrolet Volt was the top selling plug-in hybrid, with cumulative sales of 13,619 units through December 2017, and the Tesla Model S was the top selling all-electric car with 6,731 units as of December 2017.[2]
Quebec is the regional market leader in Canada, with about 11,000 plug-in electric cars registered as of September 2016, of which, 55% are plug-in hybrids. Registrations in the province totaled 3,100 units in 2015, representing a market share of 0.7% of new car sales, and 45% of total Canadian plug-in electric car sales that year.[3]
Overview by province or territory
Articles about plug-in electric vehicles in individual provinces and territories:
Government incentives

Models available
In January 2009, Hydro-Québec and Mitsubishi signed an agreement to test 50 i-MiEV, at the time, the largest pilot test of electric cars in Canada ever. The test's goal was to allow a better understanding of winter usage of the technology. BC-Hydro and Mitsubishi had previously tested a three-vehicle fleet in British Columbia.[4] In October 2010, Transport Canada and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada announced a partnership to test the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. Transport Canada's ecoTECHNOLOGY for Vehicles (eTV) Program tested two i-MiEVs in government facilities and in a variety of real-world conditions. This program aim was to evaluate the i-MiEV road performance and range.[5] Retail sales of the i-MiEV began in December 2011,[6][7]
The Nissan Leaf roll-out in Canada began with fleet customers on July 29, 2011,[8] and deliveries to individuals began in late September 2011.[9][10] As of December 2011, the Leaf was sold only through 27 Leaf-certified dealers for the entire country, and sales were limited to customers who live within a 65 km (40 mi) radius of one of those dealers.[11] Cumulative sales through December 2014 reached 1,965 units, and, as of December 2014, the Leaf ranked as the top selling all-electric car in the country.[12][13]

Retail sales of the Tesla Model S began in 2012, with 95 cars delivered that year. A total of 638 units were sold in 2013, and cumulative sales reached 1,580 units through December 2014, allowing the Model S to rank as the second best selling all-electric car in the country.[12][14] During 2014 the BMW i3, Kia Soul EV, BMW i8 and Porsche 918 Spyder were introduced in the Canadian market.[12] The top selling models in 2015 were the Tesla Model S with 2,010 units, followed by the Chevrolet Volt with 1,463, the Nissan Leaf with 1,233, the BMW i3 with 367, and the Kia Soul EV with 318.[15] In 2015, the Model S passed the Nissan Leaf as the all-time best selling all-electric car in Canada.[16][17]
The all-electric Renault Twizy 40 low-speed quadricycle was certified by Transport Canada in March 2016, and was scheduled to be released on the Canadian market by mid-2016.[18]
British Columbia is the only place in the country where it is legal to drive a low-speed vehicle (LSV) electric car on public roads, although it also requires low speed warning marking and flashing lights. Quebec is allowing LSVs in a three-year pilot project. These cars will not be allowed on the highway, but will be allowed on city streets.
Sales
There were 18,451 highway legal plug-in electric cars registered in Canada as of December 2015, of which, 10,034 (54%) are all-electric cars and 8,417 (46%) are plug-in hybrids. These figures include some used imports from the U.S.[19] Until 2014 Canadian sales were evenly split between all-electric cars (50.8)% and plug-in hybrids (49.2%).[12]
The Chevrolet Volt, released in 2011, is the all-time top selling plug-in electric vehicle in the country, with cumulative sales of 6,387 units through May 2015 (representing over 30% of all plug-in cars sold in the country).[20][15][21] Ranking second is the Tesla Model S with 4,160 units sold through April 2016, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 3,692 units delivered as of May 2016.[20][15][13] The Model S was the top selling plug-in electric car in Canada in 2015 with 2,010 units sold.[15][19]
A total of 1,969 plug-in cars were sold in 2012, up from 521 in 2011. Sales climbed 57.7% in 2013 to 3,106 units, and in 2014 were up 63.0% from 2013 to 5,062 units, reaching cumulative sales of 10,658 plug-in cars through December 2014. The market share of the plug-in electric car segment grew from 0.03% in 2011, to 0.12% in 2012, and reached 0.27% of new car sales in the country in 2014.[12] Cumulative sales reached the 30,000 unit mark in January 2017.[22]
The following table presents new car sales by year of all the highway-capable plug-in electric cars available in Canada between 2011 and December 2015.
Model | Total 2011-2015 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chevrolet Volt[21] | 5,415 | 1,463 | 1,521 | 931 | 1,225 | 275 |
Tesla Model S[15] | 3,590 | 2,010 | 847 | 638 | 95 | |
Nissan Leaf[13] | 3,198 | 1,233 | 1,085 | 470 | 240 | 170 |
Smart electric drive[15] | 1,132 | 306 | 561 | 222 | 28 | 15 |
Mitsubishi i MiEV[23] | 617 | 121 | 109 | 168 | 196 | 23 |
Ford C-Max Energi[15] | 609 | 138 | 272 | 199 | ||
BMW i3[15] | 566 | 367 | 199 | |||
Ford Fusion Energi[15] | 429 | 144 | 169 | 116 | ||
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid[15] | 394 | 43 | 76 | 212 | 63 | |
Kia Soul EV[15] | 357 | 318 | 39 | |||
Ford Focus Electric[15] | 244 | 42 | 44 | 103 | 55 | |
BMW i8[15] | 228 | 200 | 28 | |||
Porsche Cayenne S E-Hybrid[15] | 213 | 213 | ||||
Fisker Karma[15] | 100 | 7 | 26 | 67 | ||
Cadillac ELR[15] | 73 | 25 | 44 | 4 | ||
Chevrolet Spark EV[15] | 66 | 35 | 26 | 5 | ||
Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid[15] | 65 | 20 | 45 | |||
Tesla Roadster[15] | 53 | 53 | ||||
Porsche 918 Spyder[15] | 28 | 21 | 7 | |||
Audi A3 Sportback e-tron[15] | 24 | 24 | ||||
McLaren P1[15] | 9 | 6 | 3 | |||
BMW X5 xDrive40e[15] | 5 | 5 | ||||
Toyota RAV4 EV[15] | 4 | 1 | 3 | |||
Total new plug-in car sales[15] | 17,995 | 6,990 | 5,322 | 3,178 | 1,969 | 536 |
PEV market share of new car sales[15] | 0.37% | 0.29% | 0.18% | 0.12% | 0.03% | |
Note: New car sales seldom correspond to registrations figures, as some plug-in model registered are used imports from the U.S. and some model numbers may declined as more cars are being taken off the road than are being sold. |
See also
References
- International Energy Agency (IEA), Clean Energy Ministerial, and Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI) (June 2020). "Global EV Outlook 2020: Entering the decade of electric drive?". IEA Publications. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) See Statistical annex, pp. 247–252 (See Tables A.1 and A.12). - Schmidt, Eric (2018-02-18). "Electric Vehicle Sales In Canada, 2017". FleetCarma News. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
- France Mobilité Électrique - AVERE France (2016-10-28). "L'Assemblée nationale du Québec adopte la loi véhicules zéro émission" [Quebec's National Assembly enacted a zero emissions vehicle law] (in French). AVERE. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
- Louis Butcher (2010-01-14). "Hydro-Québec s'associe à Mitsubishi pour tester une cinquantaine de véhicules électriques" [Hydro-Quebec joins Mitsubishi to test fifty electric vehicles] (in French). Rue Frontenac. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- "Government of Canada and Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada partner to conduct all-electric vehicle trials". Transport Canada. 2010-10-20. Archived from the original on 2010-10-24. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- Ian Palmer (2012-03-14). "2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV gains traction in Canada". CarPages.ca. Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2012-03-20.
- Michael Bettencourt (2011-10-17). "Cheapest fully electric vehicle coming to Canada soon". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
- "First Nissan Leaf EV Arrives In Canada". Nissan in the News. 2011-07-29. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- Nissan Canada (2011-09-23). "Nissan Canada delivers first 100% electric Nissan LEAF to Canadian consumer". PR Newswire. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- Nissan Canada (2011-10-06). "Nissan Canada Delivers British Columbia's First 100% Electric Nissan LEAF to Retail Customer". Canada Newswire. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- "Chevrolet Volt handily outselling Nissan LEAF in Canada". Auto North. 2011-12-13. Archived from the original on 2012-01-04. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
- Klippenstein, Matthew (2015-02-06). "Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, January 2015". Green Car Reports. Retrieved 2015-02-07. Estimated sales for Ford Energi models. Tesla Model S, Smart ED and the other figures with yellow background from IHS data.
- "Nissan Leaf Sales Figures". Good Car Bad Car. January 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
- "Tesla Model S Sales Figures". Good Car Bad Car. January 2015. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
- Klippenstein, Matthew (February 2016). "Canadian Plug-in Electric Vehicle Sales". Green Car Reports. Retrieved 2016-02-07.Tesla Model S sales figures from IHS data.
- Klippenstein, Matthew (2016-01-20). "Plug-in electric car sales in Canada, December 2015: Tesla Model S-Capades". Green Car Reports. Retrieved 2016-06-19. Estimated sales for Ford Energi models. Tesla Model S, Smart ED and the other figures with yellow background from IHS data.
- Bubbers, Matt (2016-04-06). "Current green cars with biggest rebates as governments sweeten deals". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
- Millikin, Mike (2016-03-18). "Renault Twizy 40 arrives in Canada". Green Car Congress. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- Stevens, Matthew (2016-02-09). "Electric Vehicle Sales in Canada: 2015 Final Numbers". Fleetcarma.com. Retrieved 2016-02-28. See table "Total Canadian EV fleet" and graph "EVs in Canada by Model"
- Klippenstein, Matthew (2016-06-14). "Plug-in Electric Car Sales in Canada, May 2016: Canada crosses 20,000 cars with plugs". Green Car Reports. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
- "Chevrolet Volt Sales Figures". Good Car Bad Car. January 2016. Retrieved 2016-06-19.
- "Electric Vehicle Sales in Canada: Q1 2017". Fleetcarma.com.
- "Mitsubishi i MiEV Sales Figures". Good Car Bad Car. January 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-19. A total of 23 units were sold in 2011, 196 in 2012, 168 in 2013, 109 in 2014, and 121 in 2015.