OTTAWA — Electric vehicle sales grew almost 60 per cent last year but they need to pick up the pace even more to hit the new federal sales mandates expected by the end of this year.
Statistics Canada released the latest quarterly data on new vehicle registrations Thursday, showing in the fourth quarter of 2021, plug-in cars and SUVs made up more than six per cent of new vehicle registrations for the first time.
Across the whole year, 86,000 battery-electric and plug-in hybrids were sold, accounting for 5.2 per cent of new registrations. That compares with 54,000 in 2020, making up 3.5 per cent of total vehicle registrations.
Five years ago, electric vehicles made up fewer than one in 100 new cars sold. In 2021, they made up one in 20.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault intends to mandate that by 2026 electric vehicles make up one in five new passenger vehicles sold. By 2030, it must be at least half, and by 2035, all new vehicles sold must run on batteries.