Northern Ontario sees more electric vehicle registrations in 2023

The number of Sudburians registering electric vehicles grew at a faster pace than the Ontario average in 2023, according to provincial data and the Electric Vehicle Society of Greater Sudbury.

The EV Society, which took its figures from Ontario's dataset, said there were 1,088 EVs registered in Sudbury as of December, 2023, which it said was an increase of 49 per cent over the previous year.

That's slightly higher than the Ontario-wide increase of 45 per cent, according to the EV Society.

"We're seeing this exponential increase year over year, which is a trend that industry analysts and other people within the EV industry are expecting to see continue," said Devin Arthur, president of the EV Society's Greater Sudbury chapter.

Arthur said the growth may reflect Sudbury's role in the production of battery-electric vehicles, since many of the crucial minerals for batteries are mined in the region. He said the mining industry's adoption of electric equipment has let many people experience their capabilities first-hand.

Northern cities adding many EVs

When looking at the combined totals of plug-in hybrid vehicles and battery-electric vehicles, urban postal codes in northern Ontario cities showed significant growth from 2022 to 2023. The Ontario data does not offer comparison to the growth rates of combustion-engine vehicles.

In North Bay, P1 postal codes showed registered EV numbers grew from 154 to 220, or 43 per cent. P4 postal codes in Timmins grew from 49 to 72, or 47 per cent. 

For P6 postal codes in Sault Ste. Marie, EV registrations nearly doubled from 118 in 2022 to 235 last year.

Sault Climate Hub co-chair Ted McPherson said he was pleased to see the growth. However, he said despite the doubling, the numbers are still rather small.

"It shows that people are interested in the EVs and interested in climate change," he said, "but I wouldn't say the numbers around here are large yet."

The Climate Hub hosted an event last October in partnership with the City of Sault Ste. Marie and its Public Utilities Commission, meant to introduce people to EVs and hear from people who drive them daily.

McPherson said the PUC has been promoting EVs within the community, and the city's new smart grid may help to manage the increased demand of EV users.

He said he has enjoyed owning an EV over the past year and a half, but said this region should have more reliable charging infrastructure to make it easier to use EVs over farther distances. He said anyone getting an EV should expect road trips to be longer due to charging stops. 

Education key to EV adoption

Arthur said he was pleased to see how many agencies in Sault Ste. Marie had been partnering to educate consumers about EVs. He said there tends to be a direct link between EV adoption and how much access people have to education, awareness and infrastructure.

"That corresponds to the growth rates that we're seeing, especially in Sault Ste. Marie," he said.

The Canadian government has pledged to end internal-combustion-engine car sales by 2035. Arthur said, despite the strong growth over the past year, it may still be a challenge to reach those targets.

That's particularly the case in highly urbanized and highly rural areas, he said, where populations may be too dense to create sufficient fast-charging infrastructure, or too sparse to make it financially viable.