Welcome to our quarterly ZEV sales update for Q1 2024. In this article, we’ll provide the latest data on zero-emission vehicle registrations in Canada for January- March 2024.
Abbreviations used
- ZEV: Zero-emission vehicles
- BEV: Battery electric vehicles
- PHEV: Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
*Data in this article is sourced from Statistics Canada and S&P Global Mobility. Both classify BEVs and PHEVs as zero-emission vehicles. Therefore, the sales figures in this article do not include hybrid vehicle registrations.
Data for Alberta, Nunavut, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland & Labrador are not available on the Statistics Canada website. Therefore we, have not included data from those provinces/territories in this article.
Updates
In the first quarter of 2024, 46,744 ZEVs were registered across Canada. According to S&P Global Mobility, this equates to 12.5% of the Canadian automotive market, which is down from 13.2% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Data from Statistics Canada mirrors the same trend in quarterly registrations, which showed a decrease from 12 % in Q4 2023 to 11.3% in Q1 2024.
Battery electric vehicle registrations reached 34,105 in Canada in Q1 2024. Plug-in hybrid vehicles hit 12,639 registrations nationwide in Q1 2024. BEV sales dropped to 8.2-9.2% in Q1 2024 from 9-10% in Q4 2023. Meanwhile, PHEV sales saw a slight increase to 3.3% in Q from 3.2% in Q4.
At the provincial level, Québec saw the most ZEV registrations with 22,231 BEVs and PHEVs hitting the road in Q1. This was a slight dip of 0.6% from Q4 2023. Ontario came in second with 10,910 registrations, while British Columbia placed third with 9,839 registrations. ZEV registrations in Ontario and B.C. both decreased from Q4 2023 by 21.9% and 7.9% respectively. Thanks to B.C.’s dip, Québec now holds the top spot in ZEV market share at 22.1%.
Drivers behind the market trend
The downward trend in ZEV registrations was primarily driven by a reduction in battery electric vehicle sales. The national total in Q1 fell to 34,105 from, 38,528 units in Q4 2023. Québec and Manitoba were the only two provinces that saw an increase in BEV registrations. In Québec, BEV sales rose to 16,590 in Q1 from 16,513 in Q4 2023. In Manitoba, BEV sales rose to 237 in Q1 2024 from 211 in Q4 2023. Every other province and territory saw a drop in BEV registrations.
Future market trends
The long-term and near-term outlook for the Canadian ZEV industry is somewhat uncertain. The decline in ZEV sales follows a recent global trend of a slowdown in zero-emission vehicle adoption. Q1 2024 was the second straight quarter in which total Canadian ZEV registrations fell. According to S&P Global, several factors have contributed to the ZEV market cooldown, including market saturation, consumers waiting for new models, and economic factors.
One indicator of an upward trend in the ZEV market is the fact that more than 19,000 iZEV rebate claims were filed in April 2024 alone. In comparison, 41,000 rebate claims were filed for the entire first quarter of 2024. If May and June see higher iZEV rebate claims, a big rebound in the ZEV market could occur in Q2 2024.
