Electric vehicle sales saw a year-on-year increase of around 32% in Canada in 2015 — with total sales numbers rising to 6,933 from 5,235 in 2014 — according to the latest figures from EV Volumes.
These numbers mean that while the Canadian electric vehicle market — inclusive of both all-electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) offerings — didn’t grow as rapidly as the Chinese and European ones did, it also didn’t contract like the US one did.
Interestingly, while the overall market only grew 32%, Tesla Model S sales actually grew 137%, similar to the trend seen in the US market where Tesla’s growth completely eclipsed that of other manufacturers.
Also worth noting, in Canada the lack of offerings worked to the advantage of Nissan and Chevy. Both the Nissan LEAF and the Chevy Volt managed to maintain a higher market share in Canada than elsewhere during the year thanks to the dearth of new competition.
EV Volumes provides more:
Canada sales increased from 5235 to 6933 Plug-ins and the pace was particularly strong in Q4 with 84% volume increase vs Q4 of 2014. January and February 2016 showed few signs of “hangovers” from possible year-end campaigns; 22% rsp. 61% more plug-ins were delivered. The new Volt has a large part in this development and it’s back for the pole position in 2016.
Market share, as % of the Canadian light vehicle market, is still low. It increased from 0.28% in 2014 to 0.37% in 2015, rank 20 among over 40 markets we are tracking. Plug-in vehicles have a short history in Canada and their population was only around 18,500 at the end of February.
The Chevy Volt is responsible for a huge portion of the overall PHEV market share in the country, so the quarterly changes seen illustrated in the image above are largely down to changes in Volt sales. The introduction of the next-generation Volt during Quarter 4 was largely responsible for the change in PHEV sales seen then.
Overall, the Tesla Model S held a 29% market share in Canada during 2015; the Chevy Volt a 22% market share; and the Nissan LEAF a 21% market share. No other electric offerings possessed a greater than 5% market share in 2015.
Image Credits: EV Volumes