Canadians want EVs more than ever, even Chinese ones

A 2026 JD Power Canada study found that interest in EVs among Canadian new-vehicle shoppers has risen for the first time since 2022. The study also found that many consumers are becoming open to Chinese EV brands due to affordability and technology features. JD Ney, managing director, JD Power Canada, returns to the Great Canadian Aftermarket Podcast to discuss both the growing interest and state of the industry outlined in the report, as well as persisting consumer barriers- including range, reliability, charging availability, and cold-weather performance.

For more information on the report, visit Indie Garage's release here.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Um the obviously um running an evolving role of electric vehicles is I want to keep an eye on the the new semi because uh what's coming in on the intake somebody, what's coming in will eventually have to be fixed by uh our illustrious aftermarket professionals, but it is a really changing uh marketplace at that level. So to talk about that and the latest kind of consumer impressions of uh desirability of EVs is uh JD. Not my JD is the uh managing director for JD Power in Canada, uh who's been on the podcast before and uh is a friend of the podcast, friend of the pod. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 0:45

Yeah, we we can we can go with that. Nice to see you again.

SPEAKER_02 0:49

Friend of the pod. Anyway, yeah, so uh you you know, uh you've you've just released uh the latest research on uh what Canadians are thinking about EVs and and uh what did they have to say?

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Um a bunch of interesting findings this year. So we've been running this study since 2022. Um and uh I guess the the top line result this year is that this is the first year since 2022 where we've seen EV consideration go up. Uh and so just as a kind of a maybe a bit of a background, uh, this particular study is very much a like a general population type of a survey. So we go out to members of the general public um and and ask them first, like, are you interested in buying a vehicle sometime in the next 24 months? They say yes, we ask them a bunch of questions, um, mostly in and around their intent to have an EV on their shopping list. And so if they say yes, I'm interested in in purchasing an EV, they kind of move down one survey track and answer a whole bunch of questions about, okay, well, you know, which EV, which models are you interested in, and all that kind of fun stuff. And then equally interesting is the group of people that say, No, I'm not interested in an EV, and then we ask them uh a whole slew of questions about you know what why aren't you interested? What are your reasons for you know rejection or or non-consideration? And then we kind of rack and stack all that that that info. And so this year we ended up with about 5,000 responses, uh, give or take. So fairly robust study in in this space by Canadian Market Research Standards. And and yes, uh, we're we're we're excited to to announce the the results uh today, actually.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Yeah, yeah. So the so the you know the that that uh EV consideration number, you said it went up, but where does it where does it sit now?

SPEAKER_01 2:32

Yeah, so it went up six percentage points year over year. So a fairly decent sized swing. So it sits now at 34%. And so it in our parlance, that's what we might refer to as like net consideration or overall consideration. So that's the combination of our two answer buckets that are um yes, I'm very likely to consider an EV or somewhat likely to consider an EV.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

And so we talk about top two box responses being uh exactly.

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Yeah, yeah. So in the past, that number was uh at as low as kind of the the high 20s. Um and and so uh finally moving uh moving in the in a positive direction from a year-over-year perspective this year.

SPEAKER_02 3:09

Right, right. Because so you know, as you say, this study started sort of after the first initial first blush of EV kind of popularity and the rush to market for people who were like, oh, this is amazing, and you got that kind of early, early adopters. So this is really a more kind of consistent uh general population feeling uh at this stage. Uh, you know, the the pioneers have have moved through the system, I think. At this point, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

I mean, it it was it the EV market was was interesting for its own sake during that those that very early adopter phase, but but those buyers were always going to buy in an EV or almost regardless. And so that it's it's somewhat less interesting to do work in that space. But by 2022, uh we're starting to get the early stages of of um what some research research was called the the early majority. And so it's a very different buyer group. Uh it's a buyer group that um are interested in that EV technology, but are are not um you know evangelists about it. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

Okay, that's a good way of putting it. Yeah, because there's certainly that, again, the early adopters, the people who were like looking for a vehicle that looked very different as well as uh as as well as being an EV, you know, so they could kind of signal in their their lives that they were, you know, you know, forward thinking or something, as opposed to wanting just an SUV that was you know slightly more efficient or or whatever the deal is, right?

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Yeah, that that happened to be electric.

SPEAKER_02 4:39

Happened to be electric, but still was very much like a conventional vehicle in every other respect, uh except for the the drivetrain. Uh what other uh interesting findings? Uh so 34% that that's probably still more uh more people I mean, if what than what they could the market could supply anyway. Um every one of those walked in and said, I'm gonna buy one today, um, they probably have to wait a while.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Well, that that that certainly wasn't a challenge in the the early days. And I think um a a lot of manufacturers or it you know, some of the leg legacy manufacturers have have sorted out a lot of those um a lot of those issues. So I I think you can you have a better chance of being able to buy one today than than a couple years ago or get getting one quickly than a couple years ago. But yeah, it it certainly was uh was a kind of a a drawback for a little while. Um I I guess that the other or one of the other interesting findings this year was the kind of a bit of a reshuffling in terms of those reasons for non-consideration. For you know, for the the entirety of our experience with the EVC study, uh affordability was always uh definitely in the top three, and and usually kind of the the top reason for EV non-consideration or EV rejection. For pretty obvious reasons. Uh in Canada for a long time, these were rather expensive vehicles for a number of reasons that we we can get into. But this year, uh affordability dropped out of the top three for the for the first time. You can look at that as sort of like a glass half full or a glass half empty, depending on on your inclination there. But now the the top three reasons for uh non-consideration are um but range anxiety, which has always been basically number one, either tied with affordability or or number one by it, like a percentage point. Um concern about uh public charging infrastructure, the the availability kind of amount of public charging stations. Uh, and and this year, uh cold weather uh and winter reliability or winter range concerns was the the number three option. Like, like I said, with affordability dropping down, which is kind of I think uh uh sort of interesting finding based on on what we see in the marketplace. You know, there are uh a number of uh frankly less expensive EVs available today and have been made available, I'd say, over the last you know, six to eight months in the Canadian market. And so that really has made uh made a difference. Um you know, I I was answering a question the other day uh just uh about you know which of the which of the you know the structural challenges for EV adoption would would be you know the most difficult for um like an automaker or the government to to address. Um you know, I I think in Canada obviously the the toughest one for the government or automakers would be you know winter uh to address that particular problem. That would be a bit of a challenge.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

Everybody complains about it, nobody does anything about it.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

So uh you know, automakers and manufacturers and and uh oftentimes uh governments are are it can be can be creative and solve a lot of problems. Solving winter in Canada, it that might be that might be a step too far. Um but that being said, if if you were to ask me out of the 2025 study, um, you know, which of these would be most difficult, I'd you know, I would have said I think affordability is gonna be a really challenging problem to solve. And you know, uh one year later, you know, making enormous strides in terms of improving the affordability of EVs. So um, you know, it's it's a very fluid landscape at the moment.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

Right, right. And and and just you know, for for folks who are maybe in uh warmer climes and aren't kind of watching this very carefully, that for those uh folks who are uh doing some research uh into EVs, um uh battery electric vehicles, obviously, uh uh you know, hybrids uh notwithstanding, and and uh plug-in hybrids notwithstanding, uh that issue of range in cold weather is is really persistent, right? I mean it's it's not um it's not like range anxiety, oh, I don't know if I'll be able to go to the store or not, which is you know, you have you know 500 kilometers or whatever range on your vehicle or 300 or whatever one. It's it's can I get home from we're in we're we're based in Sudbury. I'm not aware of a vehicle on the market today at any reasonable kind of level of affordability that can get from Toronto to Sudbury in the winter without stopping. Right. I I'm just not aware of one that that can hold that range off when it's uh people joke, we we sort of laugh about it because it it is literally uphill the whole way.

unknown 9:19

Right.

SPEAKER_01 9:20

Yeah, I mean you you you you might note that the Toronto to Sudbury commute uh is fairly rare.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

So yes, I do know I do know the fine defined slices that we we deal with here, but it's not a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

You're what we might refer to as a small uh you're a small sample size.

SPEAKER_02 9:38

Um but it but it is also uh real in the sense that um you know for folks who do have longer drives at some point in the in their world and and don't really have the option to have a second vehicle for those long drives. Uh you know, it keeps them out of that market, especially if they're you know looking at that uh range that's going down to something around half uh once you get headwinds and cold weather and keeping the vehicle warm. Um, you know, the so it's not it's not just pretend uh anxiety, it's it's it's real, right? So I guess my point. Um the other the one other really interesting component here, which which is something that uh I mean, obviously Canada doesn't have an exclusive uh cornering of the market on cold weather. Uh uh shout out to anybody in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. They they know what cold weather is all about. But the issue of Chinese vehicles came up, uh, which is definitely a uh largely Canada-only uh consideration right now. What did uh what did the respondents have to say about Chinese uh EVs?

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yeah, we were we were lucky uh just in terms of the timing of when we had to get into field for this study that that things were really percolating from a government perspective on on the announcement uh with with the government in in China around allowing a quoted number of Chinese EVs into the country. And so we were able to kind of last minute wedge a couple of important questions in into this year's study, just to ask essentially that that question. So you know, we know you're interested in in shopping for an EV or at least having one on your your shopping list. What about uh a Chinese OE, like a domestic brand OE? So just to be to be clear, uh with that question, we're not specific, we were not asking about um your Tesla Model 3 built in China or the Polestar built in China or like other global brands that just happen to be manufactured in China. In that case, we're we're talking about uh domestic Chinese OE brands. So uh for your your listeners, you have brands that don't currently exist in in Canada or not currently selling cars in the right.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Right, right, like a BYD or a Gile or uh some of the other things.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Exactly, exactly. And so uh yeah, so interestingly enough, uh, of the people that said uh, you know, yes, I'm yeah, I'm kind of overall likely to consider an EV, uh but 56% of those people said that they would be open to considering uh a domestic Chinese brand OE. Um so certainly um yeah, I mean, you know, and any for any of the kind of legacy automakers out there, that you know, the the moment a brand new brand shows up and and uh it's taking up space on the shopping list of your prospective customers, you know, that that's definitely uh a sizable threat.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

Sure, sure. And for for the aftermarket, it it it does spell uh a high likelihood that uh when these vehicles come in, assuming uh uh you know we're really talking about uh uh you know uh the the ones that are gonna come in at a more affordable level uh as part of that agreement. It's not a lot of vehicles, um, but it it's it's structured to grow, um, right? And and uh so those are gonna be on the roads. And for the aftermarket, they're gonna need to be uh on point with with when somebody shows up at that with that one of those vehicles at their independent shop. Um because one of the concerns, as I look down here, that people do have over the new the entry of a new brand um is you know parts and service. And uh so that's kind of the the the friction, that that's the drag on that popularity, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:16

Or that yeah, uh it was interesting the the kind of the the the two sides of the consideration coined when it came to the domestic Chinese brands, that the uh you know on the on the positive side, um the those who are interested in in looking at those brands seem like more or less pre-sold on on the idea that they will be cheaper. Um they they seem more or less pre-sold, uh, and I think more importantly, pre-sold on the idea that the value proposition for those vehicles will be very strong, um, that the the technology in the vehicles will be you know cutting edge, and that the you know the battery technology will be fairly top-notch. So that that's um that those that responded to our survey, they they seem like have accepted all of those as being positives for um for these brands coming in. On the negative side, um are some more kind of structural or or longer-term challenges. So definitely some commentary that we got around um, you know, we don't know the long-term reliability of these, the of these vehicles, um, you know, how will they stand up in a Canadian winter? Um, and then to to your point, there was a quite a few comments uh around you know, how will these vehicles be supported from a uh from an after sales and and parts availability perspective? So, so some concern there. So I I guess to it if I was to sum up the the attitude of our respondents um around their their likeliness to consider uh Chinese OE brands, it would be something like, okay, okay, like you you've you've got me interested, but and so I'm I'm I'm there, but but now I have some more serious questions and and some kind of some some waiting for you to prove it items there too.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Right, right, right. Fair fair enough. And one of the things that occurs to me uh in looking at at this, and and there is some information on on uh on this divergence between the Canadian and US marketplaces in in the information and the studies that you've found is is just that. Uh, you know, obviously Chinese vehicle reality is something that we're having and going to have in Canada, and in all likelihood to a growing extent, not something that I don't think is on the horizon in the US uh at present, and and maybe not for a long time. Certainly I'm not seeing any indications uh of of that, and quite the contrary. Um and also a divergence in um or or a lag, maybe, uh, in in that that EV consideration between Canada and the US. I mean, in Canada we talk about being in kind of environmentalism and all that, but we're like quite a bit behind on the EV consideration than they are in the US. Um are you seeing this this kind of divergence, Canada-US market, in a lot of places between in this and and uh kind of other places uh uh in the marketplace?

SPEAKER_01 16:08

Yeah, I mean the the the US-Canada comparisons are are always interesting in in a lot of our studies. We we often joke that there's a like there's an exchange rate problem between Canadian survey respondents and US survey respondents. There there does seem to be kind of a natural inclination for like if something is if if a experience is is pretty good in the US, an American customer you know, massive generalization here, so have a big asterisk across this, but are are just more likely to mouse click on like an eight out of ten. Uh whereas a Canadian, if it's pretty good, we'll mouse click on a seven out of ten. So that there does seem to be kind of a a scoring exchange rate uh hard bar challenge across generally like happy. Yeah, yeah, well that's it's cold. That's cold. We're just a little cranky when the when the surveys come out. So but when it comes to yeah, exactly. So when it comes to EVs, though, uh it is interesting interesting to your point about you know, we we like to to view ourselves as as slightly more virtuous or environmental than our US cousins, but um, when it comes to EV adoption or consideration, uh their consideration rates have always been much higher than they than they are in Canada, um, kind of being in the kind of mid-50% zone for that that overall uh likely to consider in the US, although that's flat uh year over year. Whereas, and so for years our our two kind of numbers have been on a divergent trajectory, and and now the US has kind of flattened off in that kind of mid-50s zone, whereas as the Canadian uh net consideration has has risen. So this is the first time we've actually kind of closed that that that gap uh or started to close that gap. But then like there are a number of of kind of structural issues that that I think that I think drive that gap. Um I mean, one is the state of California, uh, which is essentially the you know the size of Canada from an automotive market. They do still have uh, at least the last I checked, uh they still have a fairly robust set of EV incentives on on the books there, uh and so kind of a lot of dollars put behind EVs uh and and their sale and lease. But then uh too frankly, if if I'm living in Southern California, um, you know, a rear wheel drive only standard range battery EV kind of just makes sense for my um you know my 15-20 mile an albeit hour and a half commute for that 15 or 20 miles, but but uh it's just not not that much range required uh if that's kind of my my extent, and it and it's always you know optimal battery efficiency 75 degree days. So uh and so that just that means that that customer can can totally accept and easily kind of weave into their lives uh a lower cost EV. In Canada, we we tend to prefer the longer range battery option, and we tend to prefer all-wheel drive vehicles, which automatically um you know spikes the the cost of of EVs. So we're like our kind of our baseline EV, uh, at least from a desirability perspective in in this country, is just it starts at a higher spot than than what we see in in the US.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Super interesting. Super interesting. Yeah, so so there's certainly divergence, a little bit of, you know, there's good reasons for it, but uh I guess for me, you know, I I what I take from it is that it's it's good uh kind of advice to uh not view the Canadian market as being some kind of uh percentage uh basis just of what's happening in the US. Uh the marketplaces are quite different and diverging. We're gonna have some different make makers here too. So for aftermarket players looking at the future, uh really need to pay attention to kind of these smaller spaces that are going on. Now, there was one other thing in the survey that I thought was interesting was the the bifurcation of the marketplace. We have all these folks who are saying, yeah, sure, I'll consider an EV, but that seems like a pretty staunch never EV group growing or being more entrenched. Is am I reading that correctly?

SPEAKER_01 20:21

So um interestingly, that would have been true over the last couple of years. This year was where we actually saw that that um not at all likely to consider an EV. That's where almost all of that six percentage point swing came from. And so the the group that was that, like I'm never ever considering an EV, um, that number dropped by six percentage points year over year. Uh, where uh up until this year it had only been been rising.

SPEAKER_02 20:46

Oh wow, fantastic. So we've really seen so that's so that so that's a I mean, there's still a a sizable contingent in that, never not not considering at all components.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Oh, yeah, yes, sorry, yeah. Don't get me wrong, it's still the largest group. It's still uh 47% today, uh at least that this this year's study. So it is it's a significant percentage of the the carbine public.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

But those are non.

SPEAKER_01 21:09

I mean, but they well, you know, and you know, I don't think I didn't know.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

It's hard to make that assumption, I know. I can I can see I can see all your your uh uh research statistical uh uh uh you know spidey senses going off when I say stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Uh no, I mean I I they probably didn't all go to the uh yes, I'm definitely considering an EV, but uh you know they may have moved uh you know one one slot further to the left on on the on that that chart, right? So that they're now like not likely to consider an EV. But we've certainly that that was a fairly significant swing out of that kind of never ever group.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

Right, right. But again, uh just to emphasize that that never ever group is still a significant component of of the marketplace. So uh you know if you're uh a shop or uh uh you know a distributor, jobber looking around your uh local regional marketplace and saying, well, I don't know why they're talking about EVs. There's nobody here driving them. You know, we know. It's not everywhere, right?

SPEAKER_01 22:08

I mean, and and uh uh but uh you know that that can also change is I guess the other message too right can you know Canada's a a big place it it's not uh it it's not a single market uh it is very much a collection of regions and uh you know um local results may may vary.

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Right, right. That's a good point to end on. So you know take a look around see how what we taught we're talking about here uh and there'll be a link in the show notes uh to some uh more information on uh on the survey if you want to do the reading part and and uh you know look around in your local marketplace see what matches up see what doesn't fit kind of paying attention is the message right absolutely okay thanks JD uh thanks everyone for listening uh take care have a great day and uh uh take care of each other and all work out all right you are listening to the great Canadian aftermarket podcast brought to you by the publishers of IndieGarage and Jabbernation connect with us online at indiegarage.ca and jobbernation.ca a brand of chat integrated media