Canadian electric vehicle demand declines due to high inflation and credit debt
By 2028, Honda's manufacturing plant in Alliston, Ontario will be able to produce 240000 electric vehicles (EVs) annually.
This news is the core content announced jointly by the Trudeau and Ford governments on Thursday, marking Ontario's third investment in electric vehicle manufacturing since 2023.
At the same time as announcing this news, Ontario is gradually achieving its goal of achieving 100% zero emissions for all new light vehicles by 2035.
However, with billions of yuan invested in the field of electric vehicle manufacturing, thousands of cars are about to be launched into the market,
Do Canadians want to buy these cars?
It is difficult to obtain a definite answer.
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A recent nationwide survey conducted by AutoTrader found that car buyers' interest in electric vehicles has sharply declined for two consecutive years.
In 2024, 46% of respondents who do not have an electric vehicle stated that they would like to purchase one. This figure is lower than 56% in 2023 and 68% in 2022.
Baris Akyurek, Vice President of Insights and Intelligence at AutoTrader, revealed that there are two common reasons why people hesitate to purchase electric vehicles: mileage and lack of charging stations.
Other reasons include higher purchase costs and the belief that electric vehicles are not suitable for cold weather.
However, according to Statistics Canada, the purchase of electric vehicles has been steadily increasing.
Last year, nearly 11% of newly registered cars nationwide were zero emission vehicles, exceeding 184500 units. The Ottawa Electric Vehicle Council (EVCO) believes that this number is just one of many signs that Canadian car buyers are interested in electric vehicles.
EVCO's Mike Banks said, "Currently, many popular electric vehicle models have long waiting lists for months. Demand has never been a problem, the problem has always been insufficient supply, unable to meet the needs of consumers
However, whether Canadians will buy these cars may not be as simple as whether they can buy them.
Josipa Petrunic, CEO of the Canadian Urban Transport Research and Innovation Alliance, believes that this always depends on consumers' purchasing power.
AutoTrader's survey shows that although interest in electric vehicles is declining, interest in hybrid vehicles is increasing.
Petrunic stated that this is not a coincidence. She pointed out, 'We are currently in a period of high inflation, with mortgage loans being impacted by high interest rates. People are worried about household credit card debt, so what are they looking for?'? They are looking for cheaper small displacement cars with lower costs to use. Generally speaking, these are hybrid vehicles
This is not because people wake up and decide to be environmentalists. It's because they wake up and find that their pockets are short of money
Will the price of electric vehicles decrease?
Will the price of electric vehicles in Canada suddenly become cheaper as supply increases? Petrunic is skeptical about this and believes it will not happen until at least 2040.
She said that while manufacturing batteries domestically is "good news," the extraction of resources and labor costs must meet Canada's minimum wage employment standards. Therefore, unless the car manufacturer lowers the price themselves, you can expect a high price tag for high-quality products.
Source link:
https://globalnews.ca/news/10450905/canadians-appetite-electric-vehicles/