Electric vehicles: record second-quarter sales in Quebec
Since the announcement of the reduction and abolition of incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles last March, consumers have been racing against the clock.
More than 33,900 electric vehicles were purchased in Quebec in the second quarter, according to Statistics Canada. A record for Quebec.
These results came just months after the announcement of François Legault's government. Coincidence? Not really. It was the expected effect, given that the provincial government subsidy is $7,000 and the federal subsidy is $5,000. A tempting amount that prompted many consumers to take action sooner than expected.
The reduction in incentives was a factor in my decision,” says Lucie Bégin, who has been leasing a Kia EV6 since June. The amount of the subsidy is still interesting. The extra $3,000 is still appreciable.”
Despite the fuel savings, she feels that her vehicle payments are quite high.
David Beauséjour has also accelerated the process of purchasing his family's second electric vehicle.
It helped our decision,” he explains. When I compared prices between a gasoline and an electric vehicle with the same type of equipment, my gasoline vehicle was much more expensive even if I didn't apply the subsidies. I would have been disappointed not to get the $10,000 subsidy, but I would have gone electric anyway.”
There are now almost 300,000 electric vehicles on Quebec roads. The government's objective is to reach 2 million cars by 2030.
Uncertainty on the horizon?
However, despite excellent sales since the start of 2024, Quebec dealers are apprehensive about the reduction and discontinuation of electric vehicle subsidies by the end of 2026.
In many parts of the world, the decision to abolish incentives led to a significant drop in electric vehicle sales in subsequent years. Last year in Germany, sales plummeted by 40%.
As governments disinvest financially from the transition project, our industry and our collective project suffer,” explains Ian P. Sam Yue Chi, CEO of the Quebec Automobile Dealers Corporation. Investments are essential if we are to achieve the targets set by the government for this energy transition. We're moving forward with a plan that evolves in step with budgetary decisions.”
The last two quarters of 2024 may be similar to the one between April and June. Dealers have the necessary stocks to meet demand.
The British Columbia example
For his part, Daniel Breton, CEO of Electric Mobility Canada, is less pessimistic about the next few years. He cites British Columbia as an example.
Three years ago, they reduced their subsidy from $7,000 to $4,000,” he points out. Sales still increased after the cut. I'm potentially expecting the same thing for Quebec.”
What's more, the price gap between gasoline and electric vehicles is narrowing.
They're becoming increasingly competitive,” adds Breton. People are realizing this by doing their calculations and looking at the offers from different manufacturers.”
Electric vehicles sold in the second quarter of 2024 by province
- Quebec : 33 911
- Ontario : 14 377
- British Columbia : 12 171
Since the start of 2024
- Quebec : 57 387
- Ontario : 25 403
- British Columbia : 22 306
(Statistics Canada data)
