I may be off-base with this but lately I've been feeling like Canada is getting second class treatment with EV availability, new launches and pricing. Models are launching in Europe, Asia and even the US months before Canada and pricing also seems to be high relative to other markets. Availability seems to be even worse than 3 or 4 years ago and all of this despite government programs and incentives and legislation arguably being better than in years past. It's kind of a bummer.
Yeah, still none or very little EV inventory at dealers in Canada. Meanwhile in the US they are now building inventory and offering discounts for some very hard to come by EVs in Canada, Eg, Hyundai I5s, and I6s. And when we finally do get one (like my I6) after putting down a deposit 2 years ago, they are not cheap.
You're not off-base at all. Availability (except for Tesla) is still low to none at dealers for popular models and pricing is high for models that are now being discounted in the US.
Try back in 2012, I had to go to Vancouver to get a Leaf...no one had any on the Island let alone showed any interest to supply one. I see a ton of EVs now but experience the same when visiting a dealership. They have the upper hand- strictly because of availability. The one good benefit however being we get to see how they actually perform in the real world giving us a chance to "back out of a deposit" and switch to another if need be. Unlike when we first pre-ordered our Kona EVs, when price was not even established. What is (or may become) available in our country is limited, especially, with the U.S. and all their incentives and demand compared to our smaller market. I don't see a big change there, and as our gov. funds start to run out and rebates expire it will unfortunately become a lot worse. I agree we pay higher than most, but as a side benefit- typically our used EVs hold more value on resale or trade in because of that demand.
I'm under the impression Canada gets some of the Chinese EVs we don't get below the border. Bob Wilson
You are right Bob, the 2 top selling models in the country (2022) are now available and built in China. There are so many around these parts, it's almost like they are part of the scenery- easy to overlook
Building in China isn't the same as a a Chinese EV company, in my opinion (such as Tesla). iPhones are built in China but they're Apple products. Even though Polestar is a Chinese-owned company, I think of it as different from companies like BYD since Polestar is based in Sweden and a sub-brand of Volvo. I see it as similar to MINI, which is owned by BMW but still considered to have British heritage. At least for now, until the Chinese-made new EV model hits the market by the end of this year.
