Saturday, September 09, 2017

Hybrids and EVs represent less than 1% of vehicles sold in Canada

I was shocked - yes, shocked - by a graphic in today's paper showing just how paltry sales of hybrid and electric cars are here in Canada.
An analysis of Canadian vehicle sales shows that, as of July 2016, 96.6% of cars sold here were traditional gasoline vehicles, and another 3.2% were diesels. Only 0.74% were hybrids, and 0.05% were plug-in hybrids, with 0.17% categorized as "other" (meaning electric cars, perhaps?)
Now, I know that adds up to more than 100%, so something somewhere is wrong. And I know that sales of hybrids and EVs have probably burgeoned since July 2016. But this still indicates that a pitifully small percentage of car purchasers are ecologically conscious, much smaller than I expected, and much smaller than the amount of media attention these vehicles attract.
Less than 1% of car owners are really not going to have a huge impact on our national carbon footprint. Disappointing.

No comments: