The automotive industry is quickly shifting toward an electric future with new technology, new products, new policies, and new questions surfacing every day.
Here are the biggest EV-related stories, debuts, and reviews from the past month.
These are the 50 electric vehicles Canadians can buy this year
2023 Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo
Learn more about the cars
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2023 Tesla Model 3
MSRP $54,990 to $72,990
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2023 Tesla Model Y
MSRP $69,990 to $75,990
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2023 Tesla Model S
MSRP $122,990 to $149,990
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2023 Tesla Model X
MSRP $142,990 to $156,990
Fifty is a nice round number. And by chance, that’s exactly how many EVs are available in Canada. We counted. The current directory includes models from electric-only brands such as Tesla, Rivian, VinFast, and Lucid — not all of which have arrived yet, but all of which you can throw money at this year. But a lot of the options for electric models come from the brands Canadians have been driving for decades. Ford has large electric options for the North American families in its Mach-E SUV and F-150 Lightning, Audi has a stable of electric cars proven on the Autobahn, and even Porsche has a mainstream electric model in the Taycan.
Click here to scroll through all 50 models availabe in Canada here, sorted alphabetically and by brand.
Tesla’s second Model X discount of the year cuts another $7k from price
The Tesla badge on a Model 3 Photo by Graeme Fletcher
Much to the annoyance of anyone who bought a Model X last month, or heaven forbid at the end of 2022, Tesla has announced its second price cut on the SUV this year. A $7,000 slab slid off the vehicle early March, adding to the $14,000 chunk that was chiseled off in January. So why the super sales?
Elon said a very Elon thing in response to that line of inquiry: that desire for the discounted vehicles would be “indistinguishable from infinite,” and that demand would “go crazy” as models become more attainable. “We found that even small changes in the price have a big effect on demand, very big,” he said at Tesla’s recent investor day.
If your desire for a Model X is indistinguishable from infinite, you can buy the dual-motor AWD Model X can in Canada for $135,990, and the Plaid trim for the same price as a Model S Plaid, $149,990.
The 10 best-selling EVs in Canada
2022 Hyundai Ioniq 5 Long Range AWD
Canadians and their government dropped a good amount of cash on EVs in 2022. The fed’s contribution via the Zero-Emission Vehicles Program was $195 million, some 10 per cent more than was spent in 2021. For this collection of the top 10 best sellers, we looked at those models that qualified for the $5,000 in-store rebates (after tax) for vehicles under $55,000 and upscale variations of those vehicle up to $65,000 plus SUVs/vans/pickups under $60,000 and their higher-trim versions up to $70,000.
Tesla alone was responsible for a large part of that, with 10,922 Model S sales in 2022, almost doubling the second-best-selling Chevrolet Bolt, which moved 5,674 models. Hyundai ran positions three and four with the Kona Electric and Ioniq 5 respectively, the only brand to have two nameplates in the top 10. Ford, Volkswagen, Nissan, Kia, and Mini Cooper also had hotly purchased models on offer last year.
How temperature and speed impact EV range
How much of an EV’s battery power is going to drive the wheels? Motor Mouth David Booth — who admittedly does like his seat good and toasty — as well as the highly detailed readout of predicted battery use produced by the Ford F-150 Lightning say it can be less than two thirds of the total power in use. And that’s at 5 degrees Celcius! Take Ford’s other EV, the Mach-E, onto the streets at -15, as many of its owners do, and that usage goes down to 50 per cent. In other words, it takes a lot of energy to keep our butts warm.
Those range-max numbers EV makers get are calculated somewhere around room temperature, and according to Geotab.com, “at 5 F (-15 C), EVs drop to 54 per cent of their rated range, meaning a car that is rated for 250 miles (402 km) will only get on average 135 miles (217 km).” And how about speed? The same literature from Geotab claims the best speed for maximum range is 30 km/h in an EV sedan, and 26 km/h in an SUV, van, or pickup.
U.S. thieves demonstrate why an EV is a bad getaway vehicle
Recently, North Precinct officers responded to a theft call where they learned that two individuals had taken several gaming systems and fled the store in a Tesla. The officers broadcast the description to surrounding officers who located the individuals. Great work officers! pic.twitter.com/6WuORXsTQx
— Gwinnett County Police (@GwinnettPd) March 5, 2023
A pair of thieves who made off with $8,000 of electronics in Buford, Georgia, were caught less than 10 miles from the Sam’s Club they hit after their poor choice of getaway vehicles ran low on getaway juice.
Police in the area responding to reports of the theft found the duo and their SUV full of loot (filled with electric toothbrushes, gaming systems, some weed, some guns, and bullets) connected to a nearby charging station. The men were probably charged. The vehicle? Who knows.
There have been other reported ways that Tesla vehicles have failed their criminal drivers, too. Find out how right here.
Keyword: EV News Roundup: All 50 EVs for sale in Canada, Tesla’s second price cut, and more