Quebec is unquestionably the center of the Canadian EV market. According to a recent study, electric vehicles accounted for more than 20 percent of all new car sales in the Canadian province during the second quarter of the 2024 calendar year. The high adoption rate is driven by big incentives and low energy prices, framing Quebec as a key market for automakers as they move to ramp up electric vehicle sales, including GM.
According to a study by S&P Global Mobility, zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), which include hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), made up around 28.4 percent of new car sales in Quebec during the Q2 2024 time period. What’s more, over half (52.3 percent) of all electric vehicles sold throughout Canada were registered in Quebec.
To put Quebec’s numbers into perspective, we can compare the province to California, the U.S. state with the highest percentage of electric vehicle registrations in the nation. Looking at the numbers, California accounted for 36 percent of all electric vehicle registrations during the 2023 calendar year.
A significant factor driving the surge in electric vehicle adoption in Quebec is the province’s attractive incentive program. Currently, Quebec residents can save up to $12,000 on a BEV, combining provincial incentives of up to $7,000 with a federal incentive of $5,000.
However, the incentive won’t last forever. Quebec plans to gradually phase out the provincial portion, reducing it to $4,000 in 2025, $2,000 in 2026, and eliminating it entirely by 2027. For now, though, these subsidies, along with inexpensive energy costs, have helped to ramp up electric vehicle adoption in a major way.
Speaking of electricity prices, residential customers in the province pay about 10 Canadian cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), which converts to about 7.5 U.S. cents. This is in stark contrast to the U.S., where electricity can be much more expensive. For instance, customers in Los Angeles pay upwards of 28 U.S. cents per kWh, while in San Francisco, it’s even higher at 38 U.S. cents per kWh. Florida, by comparison, offers lower rates, with Miami residents paying about 14 U.S. cents per kWh.
For those charging at home, especially in Quebec where gas prices are similar to California’s high rates (with regular fuel in Montreal priced around USD $4.45 per gallon as of September 2024), going electric makes perfect sense.
For GM’s part, the Chevy Bolt EV (including the Bolt EUV) dominated GM Canada’s electric sales in 2023 with 6,871 units sold. Now, with Bolt production officially at an end, the Cadillac Lyriq is gaining traction, with 1,099 units sold in Q2 2024 – a massive 550 percent year-over-year increase compared to the same period in 2023. The Chevy Equinox EV is also stepping up with 1,080 units sold in Q2 of 2024.
GM Canada EV Sales - Q2 2024
| MODEL | Q2 24 / Q2 23 | Q2 24 | Q2 23 | YTD 24 / YTD 23 | YTD 24 | YTD 23 | YTD 24 SHARE | YTD 23 SHARE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHEVROLET BLAZER EV | * | 2,304 | * | * | 2,529 | 0 | 37% | 0% |
| CADILLAC LYRIQ | +558.04% | 1,099 | 167 | +548.86% | 1,421 | 219 | 21% | 3% |
| CHEVROLET BOLT EV | -93.47% | 254 | 3,889 | -83.23% | 1,152 | 6,871 | 17% | 97% |
| CHEVROLET EQUINOX EV | * | 1,080 | * | * | 1,080 | 0 | 16% | 0% |
| GMC HUMMER EV SUV | * | 163 | * | * | 297 | 0 | 4% | 0% |
| CHEVROLET SILVERADO EV | * | 223 | * | * | 223 | 0 | 3% | 0% |
| GMC HUMMER EV PICKUP | +472.99% | 126 | 22 | +727.27% | 182 | 22 | 3% | 0% |
| TOTAL | +28.71% | 5,249 | 4,078 | -3.21% | 6,884 | 7,112 |
With GM set to roll out additional electric vehicles models in the near future, it’ll be interesting to see how EV-heavy markets like Quebec react.
Comments
I work in a GM dealership in Montreal and we can’t keep Equinox EVs or Blazer EVs on the lot. The Lyriq is selling steadily with maybe 10 units in stock at all times.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the Quebec electricity utility, Hydro-Quebec, is province-wide and state-run. It generates and distributes its own power and resells excess to neighboring states and provinces. The generous rebates help set up an ecosystem where the profits from the electricity used to run EVs goes back into taxpayer’s pockets.
Thanks for the informative post. I really like seeing posts like this directly from people at GM dealers on the ground.
Some idiots downvoted this neutral comment?
Go figure.
Whether you like EVs or not, seeing GM succeed in selling EVs is something all GM enthusiasts should like to see. I personally am not ready to spend big bucks on one. But GM getting ahead of the EV game means they can also get ahead at innovating the tech to get it to a point where I can be ready for one, will help them be ahead of the competition, and they won’t head down the road of Kodak (provided they don’t squander the opportunity in typical historical GM fashion).
What was crazy to me looking at GM Canada’s Q2 numbers is that the Blazer EV outsold the ICEV more than two to one (2,304 vs 1,048) and the Lyriq just barely missed being the best selling Cadillac, with 1,099 units sold vs 1,224 for the XT4.
I really can’t wait for Q2 numbers to hit.
I think some of that power even goes to the US. I remember reading an article where it mentioned the electrical grid in NY gets some of its power from Quebec. They literally export electricity to the US.
lol it takes $12,000 of tax payer incentives to sell electric vehicles. Seems like this plan keeps getting better… how much is the provincial and federal government actually pumping into it? Not just incentives on each unit sold, but top down cash being unloaded. Everything from energy grants, infrastructure, these incentives, supplier and manufacturer tax breaks. Imagine if we just pushed hybrids and focused all that money on 100% national renewable energy and carbon/toxin capture.
If it was that simple, it would already have been done.
Pushing hybrids just moves the problem forward anyway. There is still hydrocarbons consumption. Also, the waste oil problem still exists. On top of that, you end-up with a more complicated car having both technologies. Sure, this model is better for the oil industry and the existing dealership system – having you in for maintenance far more often.
For the carbon capture, it is extremely inefficient. Cutting at the source is far more productive.
But your suggestion unfortunately fixes nothing.
Major society transitions are hard and take time.
Anyhow, this extremely complex problem cannot be solved in a forum post.
more complicated car with two powertrains, but far cheaper. and you can have an ultra reliable gas engine with a well packaged hybrid system.
still burns gas, but smaller carbon footprint than a big’ol EV battery.
oil waste. big’ol battery waste.
hybrids and PHEVs are superior to EVs for the consumer and planet.
don’t bury your head in the sand, you know this to be factually true. your post excludes obvious facts for surface level counter points. your post almost wasn’t worth replying to with those exclusionary tactics.
manufacturers are now seeing the light, every single one has course corrected on their full-EV transition and going hard into HEV, PHEV, and/or EREV. Except of course Tesla.
20% of sales until owners realize what a mistake they made and trade them all back in…for pennies.
In Quebec, 1 in 5 new cars is electric, which means most people know at least 1 owner of an EV. If it’s such a terrible mistake, people talk to each other and the 20% market share would crash pretty quickly, yet it keeps growing.
EVs aren’t for everyone (including myself), but they
definitely are meeting the wants and needs of a large segment of drivers.
KBB, Edmunds, NADA and CarFax all state that anyone buying an EV loses a whopping 36% depreciation as soon as they drive it off the Dealer’s lot. That’s compared to about 16% for an ICE vehicle. Waiting for all those “socialist-subsidized” Canuck buyers to have fun this Winter.
In other words, the government is subsidizing EV’s to get people to buy them.
The 120 year, on-going subsidy continues to prop up ICE at the detriment to all of us…
Yeah, well, it’s the French so … you know .
OK, that wasn’t very nice, but it was kinda funny, if taken with the humor that was intended (I hope)….
Impressively stupid comment.
I wonder what you say about BC residents which have a similar inclination toward EVs.
Hello,
An EV makes total sense as a second car in a family. Yes, it is subsidized but for the planet, it is not such a bad idea…anyways, gas/diesel has been subsidized for ever…everywhere…explaining why it is so prevalent everywhere… as for the winter comment…those GM EVs have been tester to the bone…in northern Canada for that matter…where the bitter cold is very present…remember that we also have “winter” gas/diesel…that must be why?
Yeah it’s always encouraging to see on my somewhat high electric bill (3 EVs) that
“National Grid has purchased low-cost PASNY hydropower. This has saved you a mammoth 15 cents on your electricity bill ! “
Buy used… Someone else pays the depreciation… We bought a used 2023 Bolt EUV in October to replace a written off 2015 Kia Rondo. Same driving habits… Not change except charging at home every night instead of going to a gas station weekly. 23,000 km in 11 months. The Rondo got 10 L/100 km which would have been around $3000 in fuel costs, plus 4 oil changes over that period. Electricity costs to charge the Bolt were about 15% of what we would have paid in gas for the Rondo. The only maintenance has been swapping tires.