Electric vehicles sales in Canada are up 68%, thanks to Nissan and Tesla going strong

Electric vehicle sales keep increasing at an impressive pace in Canada to a point that they are now representing a meaningful percentage of overall car sales.

During the first quarter 2017, electric vehicle deliveries reached a record high of 1,474 units (BEVs and PHEVs) – up 68% over the same period last year.

The arrival of the Chevy Bolt EV and the Hyundai Ioniq Electric in Canada helped boost EV sales in the country during the last quarter with 300 and 9 deliveries respectively, but Nissan and Tesla are still the market leaders.

Between the Roadster, Model S, and Model X, there are now 6,900 Tesla vehicles in Canada or 42% of the total PEV market share in the country.

Tesla delivered 400 Model X SUVs in Canada during the first 3 months of the year alone.

Fleetcarma is out with its first quarter report of EV sales in Canada and it shows that Nissan Leaf and Model S sales are still leading EV sales, while the Model X jumped to the third place during the first 3 months of the year.

There are now over 30,000 EVs in Canada.

Electric vehicle sales are off to a great start in 2017 – not only versus the same period last year, but total registrations in March reached an all-time high.

Quebec is still the market leader despite having a smaller market than Ontario, but Canada’s most populated province is catching up, especially since they modified their EV incentives in order for Tesla buyers to now have access to their generous $14,000 rebate.

British Columbia is also doing well with now 4% of total passenger car sales being plug-ins:

At this pace, Canada’s biggest provinces could see almost 5% of total cars having some all-electric range by the end of the year.

It will likely depend on the availability of certain vehicles. Chevy Volt sales are still strong, but Nissan Leaf could fall as we get closer to the launch of the next generation, which could only be available very late in the year or not at all.

Tesla Model 3 could make a big difference since there are tens of thousands of reservations in Canada, but the vehicle is also not likely to be available in the country by the end of the year – more likely early in 2018.

The Chevy Bolt EV could make a bigger difference, but its dealer allocation outside of ZEV states have been extremely low and some countries are not expected to see more than a few hundred units in 2017.

It will certainly be interesting to see how the rest of the year goes for EV sales in Canada after last quarter’s record-breaking results.