Most British Columbians (60%) are interested in buying an electric vehicle or already own one, according to a new survey from Stratcom and Clean Energy Canada. More than a quarter (26%) are very interested, while 33% are somewhat interested in making the purchase over the next few years; 1.1% say they already own an EV. Just over one in five (21%) are not too interested or not at all interested.
British Columbians were also surveyed on five factors that might influence their decision to go electric, scoring each of the proposed solutions highly on a six-point scale. Longer battery life scored the highest (with a mean response of 5.3), followed by more charging stations and accessibility to charging (5.2), rebates from government for purchasing used electric vehicles (5.1), more availability of electric cars at dealerships (4.8), and more selection of models such as SUVs or trucks (4.7).
QUOTES
“British Columbians are clearly excited about EVs—one of the reasons that B.C. was the first jurisdiction in the world to legislate a ban on the sale of gas cars. It’s a move that’s been followed in recent weeks by governments around the world, from Quebec to the U.K. After all, EVs don’t just cut pollution, they can also save drivers thousands of dollars a year on fuel and maintenance costs. It’s a win-win, and with the technology getting better and cheaper every year, consumer interest is accelerating.”
—Merran Smith, Executive Director, Clean Energy Canada
METHODOLOGY
The survey was conducted online with 856 British Columbian adults from November 23 to December 1, 2020. Respondents were statistically weighted to match the gender, age, region and proportion of Chinese mother tongue in B.C. as per the 2016 Census. Online polls don’t report margin of error, but a similar sized probability sample would have a margin of error of +/- 3.5%, 19 times out of 20.
