
Canadians’ appetite for zero-emission vehicles has yet to wane as another new high was hit for new registrations of battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.
Third-quarter data from S&P Global Mobility show that 16.5 per cent of new vehicle registrations in Canada were ZEVs. That’s a 3.1-point increase, or 14 per cent, from the 13.4 per cent in the second quarter.
The group reported a 15.1 per cent rise in BEVs and a 12.4 per cent jump in PHEVs.
Internal combustion engine still dominated overall new vehicle registrations, but its penetration fell from 75% in Q2 to 70 per cent in Q3.
S&P Global Mobility pegged 2024 full-year adoption rates to come in above 15 per cent, reaching 266,889 units. And it sees a continued upward trajectory in the coming years.
“This growth is projected to continue, with adoption rates rising to 19.0 per cent in 2025, 25.3 per cent in 2026, and 30.7 per cent in 2027,” its report said.
That said, S&P Global Mobility did warn of potential headwinds that could get in the way of growth.
“However, several risks could impact these projections, including the pace of charging infrastructure development, economic fluctuations influencing consumer purchasing power, potential changes in government policies or incentives and technological advancements,” it noted. “Addressing these risks will be crucial to achieving the forecasted growth and maintaining the momentum in ZEV adoption.”

Of note, hybrids made up 13.5 per cent of new vehicle registrations; BEVs were 12.3 per cent. After the gap between the two expanded to 2.4 percentage points at the start of this year, it has narrowed to 1.2 percentage points.
Quebec, which will phase out purchase incentives for ZEVs, led the country with a 34.6 per cent adoption rate, up from 28.4 per cent in Q2. British Columbia came in second at a 29.4 per cent adoption rate. Yukon rounded out the top three with a 10.3 per cent adoption rate, but it was the only region to see a drop compared to the precious quarter (12.3 per cent).
Ontario (9 per cent) placed fifth while Prince Edward Island came fourth (9.6 per cent).
In the three biggest cities, Montreal saw ZEV adoption rise from 22.2 per cent in 2023 to 32.8 per cent in 2024. Vancouver stayed mostly stead but still slaw a slight decline from 27.1 per cent in 2023 to 26.9 per cent. Toronto saw a modest rise, going from 9.2 per cent in 2023 to 9.6 per cent in 2024.
Tesla led the market with 15.2 per cent more sales from Q2. Chevrolet spiked 138 per cent, which S&P Global Mobility credited to its Bolt EV and EUV. Toyota’s ZEV sales jumped by 72.2 per cent thanks to the Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime. Hyundai’s Kona Electric and Ionic 5 helped push towards a 2.81 per cent increase, supported by the Kona Electric and Ioniq 5.
The group also highlighted Mercedes’ 99.31 per cent rise and VinFast’s 66.52 per cent jump as they expand their presence in the Canadian ZEV market.
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As I am writing my yearly news letter for my customers on ZEV’s, I am having a hard time deciphering all this data. In this article S&P Global Mobility shows the third quarter of 2024 ZEV’s new vehicle registrations at 16.5% of the market. They continue to say that BEV’s are at 12.3% and Hybrids are at 13.5 % of new vehicle registration. I presume that Hybrids using a combustion engine are not considered a ZEV, but plug in hybrids (PHEVs) that are also using a combustion engine are considered a ZEV by our government’s 2035 legislation. Therefore; in the third quarter 16.5% of all new vehicle registrations of being ZEV’s minus 12.3% being BEV’s would have PHEV’s at 4.2% of the market share. Being the fact that there is no such thing as a “zero emission vehicle” (ZEV) this terminology should be changed to “reduced emission vehicles” (REV’s) because it is very misleading to the consumer. Now if you google ” What percentage of zero emission vehicles are on the road in Canada” You will see that the same company S&G Global Mobility states in October 28 2024 (Same 3rd Quarter?) that ZEV’s make up 11.7 % of new car market shares (not 12.3% or 16.5%). Are they not including PHEV in this report? Also they state in 2021 that the ZEV’s market shares were at 3.8% which basically shows sales have impressively tripled in three years. Now with the average consumer holding on to their vehicles longer than ever before up to 12 -13 year records, google https://electricautonomy.ca/news/2022-12-02/zev-registrations-2021-canada/ you will see in 2021 the total amount of ZEV’s on the road in Canada only amounted to 1% even though the new car sales for that year were at 3.8% of the market share. So with this data I can only presume that the total percentage of ZEV vehicles on the road in Canada currently is less than 3 %. This data is way less concerning to me as an aftermarket shop owner than combustion engine new car sales dropping from 75-70% between the 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2024.
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Sorry my bad 11.7% was ZEV.s new car registration in 2023 not 2024. So if the Zev’s reached 16.5% for the 3rd quarter of 2024 (not knowing 2024’s total average ZEV’s% sales) then the total amount of ZEV’s on the road in Canada would be closer to less than 4% not 3% comparable with 2021 data. Still not a lot of market share to worry about at this time. My prediction is we still have about 20 years to evolve towards maintaining and repairing these cars. Only if they remain gaining market share.
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