TORONTO – A new report shows consumers are increasingly favouring internal combustion engine cars for their next car purchase rather than an electric vehicle.
The latest EY mobility consumer index for 2025 shows only seven per cent of those planning to buy a car in the next 24 months intended to buy an EV, down from 15 per cent in the previous report from 2024.
Meanwhile, 58 per cent said they preferred an internal combustion engine vehicle, up from 44 per cent in 2024.
The report, published on Thursday, found 30 per cent of Canadians hoping to buy a car soon are delaying or reconsidering an EV purchase in light of recent geopolitical issues.
Consumers cited high upfront costs for EVs and charging reliability as their top reasons to consider gas vehicles instead, the report found. Consumers also said charging confidence and overall practicality of EVs were a concern.
Sara Ganowski, a senior manager at EY, said the report captured a shift among consumers prioritizing affordability, which is a dominant barrier for potential EV buyers.
Recent Statistics Canada data shows sales of zero-emission vehicles in 2025 were down 35.7 per cent from a year earlier, which the agency noted was likely influenced by changes to federal and provincial EV incentive programs.
But that could change this year, Ganowski said, as the federal government reintroduced an EV incentive program and announced investment plans for charging infrastructure, which “could target some of the barriers” consumers highlighted in the report.
The federal government replaced its EV rebate program with an EV affordability program last month, which allows for an incentive of up to $5,000 on car purchases with a final value of $50,000 or less.
Ganowski said incentives matter to consumers in their decision-making process when buying a car.
“Our research shows that the affordability theme was central,” she said. “Especially given economic uncertainty and sort of the realities of cost of living today, incentives help.”
The re-appearance of an incentive program already appears to have boosted sales of zero-emission vehicles, DesRosiers Automotive Consultants said in a report earlier this week.
“Despite only being available from Feb. 16, the incentives brought immediate results with ZEV sales surging more than 50 per cent in a number of provinces,” the report said.
The recent surge in gas prices amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East could also make EVs more desirable, Ganowski said.
“The total cost of ownership and the business case to adopt an EV certainly gets more attractive when you’ve got shifts in gas prices like we’ve seen recently,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2026.
