I requested an update from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, Highway Safety on the latest electric vehicle statistics for Prince Edward Island, and they kindly provided a breakdown for the last six years:
| Vehicle Type | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Battery Electric | 20 | 41 | 76 | 198 | 525 | 751 |
| Hybrid | 564 | 643 | 642 | 923 | 1161 | 1566 |
| Plug-in Hybrid | 16 | 27 | 54 | 100 | 177 | 311 |
| Total | 600 | 711 | 772 | 1221 | 1863 | 2628 |
| Total Vehicles | 114,188 | 122,084 | 88,634 | 100,191 | 95,082 | n/a |
| % Electric | 0.52% | 0.58% | 0.87% | 1.22% | 1.96% | n/a |
While there has been growth over these years in the proportion of total vehicles registered that are electric or hybrid (when I bought my Kia Soul EV in 2019, it alone represented 2.4% of the electric vehicle fleet on PEI, it’s now only 0.13%), it’s still a relative pittance.
Prince Edward Island’s Net Zero Framework calls for “Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles and other Non-emitting Fuel Sources” as a key lever in the path forward to net zero by 2040, with specific goals of zero-emission vehicles accounting for 100% of light-duty dealership sales by 2035, and zero-emission vehicles accounting for greater than 60% of PEI’s registered passenger vehicles by 2040.
Comments
Including soft hybrid (non-plug-in) in this list is a little generous. They mostly improve fuel efficiency of gasoline cars.
I see the total number of registered cars - do you have an idea how many cars are newly registered in PEI each year? I'd guess on the order of 5-10% of total (from vehicle life of 10-20 years), so about 5000-9000, making % electric of new registrations roughly 10%, or roughly 5% if excluding soft hybrid? So unfortunately PEI is still digging down in the hole that we need to get out of (so is Ontario sadly).
Though it is probably already reflected in the "Total Vehicles" figures for 2021 and 2022, availability must really be hurting EV sales.
I'm in the position where I'm ready to consider an EV, but not ready to buy one with a 12-month waiting list without having even seen it in person.
I’ve been curious about whether you’ll be getting some updated numbers. I’m glad to see them. I definitely see more BEVs on the road these days. And the year over year growth of the numbers is encouraging.
I’m also wondering about that total number of registered vehicles. There seems to be quite a swing in the numbers there. Are there really 27,000 fewer vehicles here than there were just four years ago?
Even with these small increases, the infrastructure to support EVs has not increased in the Maritimes. Dale is finding it increasingly difficult to find an available charger to top up on his trips to Halifax, which wasn’t the case 2 years ago. His philosophy has always been to stop at the first place and see if it’s available and then move on to the next charger if it is not (Aulac, Masstown, Truro, Stewiacke, Elmsdale). Last weekend he stopped at 4 chargers along the route before finding one. Then on his way home he had to go to Sackville to get one and then it only worked for 10 minutes and he was forced to use a level 2 charger. The only fast chargers that seem to be available in Halifax are at car dealerships which makes it more difficult.
We absolutely love our EV and are very happy with our purchase, but the recent increase in use of chargers in NB & NS is making it difficult for Dale to successfully make it to work in Halifax.