Chevy Equinox EV and Chevy Blazer EV sales in Canada have been in a tailspin since Transport Canada suspended the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program. Similar to the federal EV tax credit offered by the IRS in the United States, the iZEV program offered Canadians an incentive of up to CA$5,000 on EV purchases. The program ran out of money and was abruptly paused indefinitely starting on January 12th, 2025.
Q1 2025 sales results for GM Canada are in, and now we can see just how big of an impact this change made in sales of electric Chevy crossovers. Compared to Q4 2024, sales are down 81.5 percent for the Chevy Equinox EV and 79.2 percent for the Chevy Blazer EV.
| Model | Q1 2025 | Q4 2024 | +/- Q1 2025 vs. Q4 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equinox EV | 1,892 | 10,207 | -81.5 percent |
| Blazer EV | 351 | 1,685 | -79.2 percent |
This is even factoring in incentives available through the month of January through either the Canadian government or GM. Similar to the Ultium Promise program GM had run previously when tax incentives were in flux, GM Canada offered CA$5,000 off EV purchases through January 2025. Q2 2025 will be the first full quarter that the CA$5,000 incentive is unavailable, and it will be interesting to see whether sales stabilize or sink further.
This sharp turnaround in the sales of Chevy EVs in Canada comes not long after the Chevy Equinox EV was GM’s third best-selling model in Canada, electric or otherwise. It was bested only by the duo of full-size pickups: the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra. Other than the Silverado and Sierra, the Equinox EV was the only GM model to exceed 10,000 sales in Canada in Q4 2024, and it outsold the Buick and Cadillac brands combined.
The future of Canada’s iZEV program is still uncertain. Some Canadian provinces still have their own incentive programs. Quebec’s was temporarily suspended recently, but it restarted as of April 1st, which could help stabilize the nosedive in sales for electric Chevy crossovers.
Comments
Surprise! No government EV incentives, less EV sales.
The discontinuation of incentives is really just the icing on the cake for Canadians not living in major centres. Where I live in western Canada, there is ZERO interest in EVs because we have such large distances to travel so frequently, and when it’s -45C and your battery capacity is reduced by 50%, nobody wants to take that chance. Until this fundamental limitation of EV batteries is fixed, interest in EVs here will not change much, no matter how good the incentives are.
Can we move on from this EV debacle yet? They are an OPTION for some, but let’s get over trying to force everyone into these POSs. We’ve wasted BILLIONS upon BILLIONS of dollars.
I think the idea of small EVs for commuter cars made sense. Don’t even need a long range. You charge overnight at home. The Bolt and Versa come to mind. But somehow it all got off the track with monster EV Trucks and SUVs.
My plug-in hybrid has saved enough money on gasoline that the savings have paid for the car itself. Candle makers complained when the light bulb was invented. Seamstresses complained when the sowing machine was invented. Is it a waste to rely on countries we don’t want to deal with for fossil fuels?
Good for you. I’m genuinely glad you had the option and bought what you wanted.
We still do not know how the EV sector will perform when compared to ICE, apples to apples, without the bribes paid for by taxpayers. Would be interesting to see how all this would have gone if the $7500 bribe had never gone into effect.
I see here, even in generally more liberal Canada, when the bribes go away, organic EV demand is still tiny.
I will give Tesla this: they’ve been at the top, or very near the top of the American Made Index for years before any tariffs came into view.
Right; that’s why I wish this article had also shown non-EV sales for the same period so that we could see how much of the downturn was due to the end of incentives vs Canadians abandoning Chevrolet and other American makes.
Funny how Canadians would suddenly refuse to buy vehicles produced by their own fellow countrymen at one of the largest GM assembly plants in the world.
Canadians are also boycotting America
And nothing is more American than Chevy and ford.
Many Canadians are done with the U.S.
I am a Canadian who currently owns a Bolt and a Colorado and has owned GM vehicles for most of my adult life. I can’t imagine ever owning another American vehicle with the fascist, isolationist turn your country has taken under that idiot trump
Paul our country has been flushed down the toilet for decades because us American tax payers has been footing the bill for the whole world to include Canada $250B aid per year. Trump is just righting the ship to what’s fair to the American citizens.
You should judge your own communist Liberal government for raping your citizens especially Alberta province. And if you stand for freedom then let your voices be heard around the world like the American voters did.
Your choice to drive whatever you want. Nobody forced you to buy GM, go buy a BYD since you’re leaning to the liberal Chinese mind set.
Good luck!!
I’m glad these FAILURES are not made in the US so there would be an excuse to close yet another plant here.
Slap some bold “made in Mexico” banners on them.