Torontonians are eager to ditch their gas guzzlers, but when zero-emission vehicles roll off the line, they’re sent to other provinces first, pushing the wait for one here to close to a year.
Around the world, from China to California, the number of people buying electric cars is doubling every year.But if a Torontonian wants to join theWait-lists for a new zero-emission vehicle in Toronto are almost 11 months long on average, according to a Star survey of dealerships from every major brand and company in the city.
“Toronto is in really bad shape,” said Daniel Breton, president and CEO of Electric Mobility Canada. “There’s a long wait-list with pretty much every manufacturer.” Tesla’s Model 3 and Model S could arrive in Toronto in as little as one month, according to the company’s website, but the Star was unable to confirm this with a dealer or company representative.
“I think that the next two years are going to be really complicated for some of them. I’m not even sure that they will all survive.” “It’s a lot of investment up front and it’s a lot less profit up front. But in the end, there’s not going to be any profit at all if they don’t make electric cars because everybody’s going there. So they’ll end up being stuck with vehicles that nobody will want to buy.”
But Canada’s uptake is falling behind the rest of the world. Globally, ZEV sales more than doubled last year. One dealer said other dealerships could be painting an overly optimistic picture to get customers to put down a deposit and stop looking for other cars. No electric vehicle can be delivered in less than 12 to 14 months, he said, adding that timeline applied “industry-wide.”
Uncertainty over delivery is pushing some buyers to the young but burgeoning used EV market, where you can still buy a car and drive it right off the lot.