ZEV sales have nearly doubled since 2018. 

Bucking the overall decline in auto sales, zero-emission vehicle sales jumped 14 per cent in the second quarter this year with 29,832 vehicles sold, up from 26,108 in the previous quarter. Sales are up 24 per cent from the same period a year ago, according to Statistics Canada’s latest tally released this week. 

Where it’s happening: The data showed a whopping 34 per cent jump in Ontario ZEV sales in the second quarter but still well below Quebec and B.C. on a per capita basis. Quebec recorded a nearly seven per cent jump and B.C. a nearly six per cent jump. All other provinces and territories with available data saw incremental quarterly jumps, albeit at much lower volume.  

Imports of EVs have grown faster than motor vehicles overall amid ongoing supply chain issues. But they still represent just 6.9 per cent of new vehicles registered.

If you ship it, they will come: Ford sends 98 per cent of its hybrid and EV inventory to B.C. and Quebec, Volkswagen concentrates 83 per cent of its fleet in the two provinces, and Kia and Honda put 86 per cent of their ZEVs in dealerships there, according to a report from a clean energy program at Simon Fraser University and an e-mobility not-for-profit. 

What makes B.C. and Quebec special: The two provinces both incentivize EV adoption with rebates on car purchase or lease and mandate that automakers sell an certain number of ZEVs per year, reaching 10 per cent of light-duty vehicle sales by 2025 in B.C., and either by selling ZEVs with higher battery ranges or hitting a certain percentage of sales of EVs in Quebec, based on the automaker’s size. 

Supply versus demand: StatCan said ZEVs made up 5.6 per cent of total new registrations in Ontario, the highest percentage recorded in the province but below the 6.9 per cent national average. While it’s one of five provinces and territories that doesn’t offer a purchase incentive, Ontario is home to $12.5 billion worth of EV-manufacturing investments by companies, with hundreds of millions in support from the provincial and federal governments, leading to six major manufacturing announcements from Honda, Stellantis, GM and Ford, to name a few—turning Ontario into a case study in how different government policies around EVs can lead to different outcomes.

War of words: Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault recently lashed out at the Ontario government’s lack of an EV rebate. He said at Electric Mobility Canada’s conference late last month that it contributes to Canada subsidizing U.S. emissions reduction by exporting EVs instead of making them more accessible at home. 

“We’re seeing billions of dollars being announced in Ontario, in electrification, battery vehicles—the largest investment in the history of the auto sector in Ontario,” said Guilbeault. “The Ontario provincial government refuses to offer an incentive where their province is one that is benefiting the most.” 

Responding to Guilbeault’s comments, Vanessa De Matteis, Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli’s press secretary, told The Logic EV purchase incentives the Progressive Conservative government scrapped in 2018 “were used by people who didn’t need them to buy cars made somewhere else.” 

“The number of electric vehicles on the road in Ontario has tripled since 2018. For over a decade, the Wynne-Liberals allowed hundreds of thousands of auto-related jobs to leave the province. Their credits did nothing to build the future of auto manufacturing,” she wrote in an email to The Logic, as Fedeli wrapped up an auto-tech trade mission in Europe. “Our government has taken a different approach, securing billions of dollars of electric vehicle investments and making sure Ontarians can buy electric vehicles made in Ontario by Ontario workers.”

The takeaway: While the political war is over incentives—understandably, given EV prices—provinces with both incentives and mandates are the ones that get EVs on the lots and into driveways.

Read Shift—The Logic’s authoritative weekly newsletter on automotive technology industry news—for more; and if you know someone who should be reading it, they can sign up here.