Five things you need to know about electric cars in Canada

By July 2020, only 3.34% of vehicles sold in Canada were electric. While Canada’s target is all new vehicle sales in the country must be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035. An EV future can be part of the solution to our pollution woes in Canada. That’s why we list five things you need to know about electric cars in Canada:

1. How much does an EV cost?

In comparison, the sticker price for an EV can be higher than a gasoline vehicle of the same size. For example, a 2022 Nissan Leaf electric car starts at $37,498 (before the government rebate), while a similarly-sized Nissan Sentra starts at $19,410. Even when you factor in the federal rebate of $5,000 for EVs that cost less than $45,000, the EV in the example still costs more than the gasoline one. You can find the full detail of the government rebate here for the Incentives for purchasing zero-emission vehicles.

2. Do EVs cost a lot less to run?

Although electric cars may cost more upfront, they can be more cost-efficient to operate.

As the average Canadian driver traveling 20,000 km per year, it will be a great saving on energy with an EV. You can charge your EV at public charging stations or at home, that’s more than $1000 saving on fuel per year if you travel as most of the Canadian drivers at the average range. Maintenance costs for EVs could be another saving since EVs have far fewer moving parts and don’t need oil changes. In the end, you will see net savings come in with an EV after your purchase.

3. How far can an EV run on one charge?

It’s normal for drivers to worry while they see the number of available KM on a battery-electric car ticking down toward to zero. But if you use your EV for commuting to work or doing daily groceries shopping, these short trips are likely less than 80km, and most electric cars can easily cover this range with just one single charge. For longer trips that are more than 350km, you can charge your EV at public charging stations across Canada. See this map of charging stations across Canada.

On the other hand, there is another category of EVs that have both a plug and also an engine. These hybrid EVs allow the car owners to drive as many km as possible on electric power alone and have the security of knowing their car won’t be immobile at the side of the road with the backup of gas.

4. Can an EV handle the winter in Canada?

The best temperatures range for electric-car batteries is at around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, extreme heat or extreme cold can reduce range.

In Canada, where we have a long winter in most of the provinces, electric vehicles batteries are less effective and have a shorter range during the cold weather. But remember that most of our daily trips are likely within the 80km range, it’s well covered by the winter range of today’s EVs. Tips for preventing a significant range loss are including using low-energy settings, warming up your EV while plugged in, not speeding, which will also help to increase range in winter.

5. How environmentally friendly are electric cars?

EVs fully run on electricity has zero tailpipe emissions; however, most EV batteries are lithium-based and they are not 100% emissions-free in manufacture. But EVs still produce far fewer polluting emissions over their lifetimes, it’s a good choice to reduce your carbon footprint by driving an EV. The lithium-based batteries of EVs are also can be recycled for other uses like home energy systems or energy storage.

In fact, Canada is one of the best countries in the world to drive an EV. Since the electricity mix is quite clean, so using electricity to power an EV in Canada can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60- 90% per vehicle. Therefore, driving EVs or plug-in hybrids reduces emissions compared to driving gasoline cars in Canada.

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