The best electric vehicles in Canada in 2023

Buying an electric vehicle (EV) is an exciting prospect. Prices are coming down, sizes are going up, and new public chargers are popping up every day. I bought my first EV back in 2019 and can confirm they’re both more economical and more fun to drive than cars of the gas-burning variety.

To help you find the right electric car for you, we’ve taken the top 10 best selling EVs in Canada and scored them for price, electric range, auto insurance cost and safety ratings. Finally, we’ve tallied up the scores and made a call on the best electric car in Canada for 2023.

Meet the top 10 best selling electric vehicles in Canada in 2023

Source: https://driving.ca/column/driving-by-numbers/10-best-selling-electric-vehicles-canada-2022

When it comes to all-electric vehicles, the Tesla Model 3 is still king. The Model 3 almost doubled its next-closest rival in sales figures, and shows no signs of slowing down.

Other contenders include long-time electric favourites like the Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf, larger SUVs like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Volkswagen ID.4, and electric takes on gas-powered vehicles like the Hyundai Kona Electric and Mini Cooper Electric.

These are the top 10 best selling electric vehicles in Canada, and the subjects of this comparison:

Tesla Model 3

This all-electric sedan first appeared on Canadian streets in 2018 and has remained the country’s most popular all-electric vehicle ever since. With a huge range of 534km and the ability to add up to 242km in a 15-minute Supercharger stop, Model 3 has officially put an end to range anxiety.

Chevrolet Bolt

The Chevy Bolt is Canada’s second-most popular EV, but will be discontinued this year to make way for the manufacturer’s next generation of electric SUVs and pickup trucks. The fun-sized hatchback boasts a range of up to 397km and can add up to 154km in a 30-minute charge if you can find a charger that’s powerful enough.

Hyundai Kona Electric

The Hyundai Kona topped our ranking of the best SUVs in Canada for 2023 and its all-electric version is ready to battle for EV supremacy. This small SUV has an advertised range of 415km and can charge to 80% in under an hour.

Hyundai Ioniq 5

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is Hyundai’s flagship electric vehicle and one of the largest in our comparison. This small SUV can go 488km on a full charge and is capable of 350kW fast charging to add 100km of range in as little as five minutes.

Ford Mustang Mach-E

The Ford Mustang Mach-E isn’t Ford’s first attempt at an all-electric vehicle, but it’s the first worth taking notice of. Built for performance, the Mach-E can go up to 502km on a charge and can add back 95km of range in 10 minutes.

Volkswagen ID.4

The Volkswagen ID.4 looks so much like an ordinary mid-sized SUV you might not even notice it’s missing a tail pipe. This practical family EV can go up to 443km on a full charge and can add 100km of charge in “about 10 minutes.”

Nissan Leaf

The Nissan Leaf has been available in Canada since 2011 and has come a long way from its dopey-looking origins but is having trouble keeping up when it comes to range. The newer, sportier-looking Leaf can travel up to 342km and needs 45 minutes to charge to 80%.

Kia EV6

The Kia EV6 shares a platform with the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the two are similar enough there’s little practical difference. The EV6 can go up to 499km when full and claims to be capable of adding 100km of range with a 4.5-minute charge.

Polestar 2

Volvo, who made your grandma’s wood-panelled station wagon in the 1970s, uses the Polestar badge to label its electric vehicles. The Polestar 2 is a sporty-looking electric sedan with 434km range and can charge to 80% “in around half an hour.”

Mini Cooper Electric

The Mini Cooper Electric is a 3-door hatchback built for zipping around city streets. Mini has chosen “fast” over “far,” giving the car acceleration of 0-60km/h in 3.9 seconds, but a range of only 183km. A quick charge to 80% will take 35 minutes.

The top 10 best selling electric vehicles in Canada ranked by range

Fuel economy is less of a concern when it comes to electric vehicles. Natural Resources Canada says 82.5% of our electricity comes from hydro, nuclear, and other renewables. And the cost to fuel an electric car is as little as one fifth the cost of powering a similar car using gasoline.

Range, however, is of utmost concern when buying an EV. All but the very fastest chargers are still too slow to make a long-distance road trip feasible, and charging at home with a regular outlet can take several days.

When it comes to range, the Tesla Model 3 takes the top spot on our list. The base model offers 438km of all-electric driving, and you can upgrade to get as much as 534km on a full charge. The Ford Mustang Mach-E and Kia EV6 also get high scores in the range category with the option to drive up to 500km without stopping.

Falling short of the competition are the Nissan Leaf and Mini Cooper Electric. The base model Leaf only travels 240km on a charge, and its maximum range of 342km is lower than most of the other cars offer standard. The Mini Cooper Electric, meanwhile, only goes 183km on a charge – only a third of what you can do with a long-range Tesla Model 3.

The top 10 best selling electric vehicles in Canada ranked by price

The price of electric vehicles is all about one thing: range. Sure, a car can have a low base price, but that’s of no use if you have to pay a big markup to get the full-sized battery. To make sure we compensated for cheaper base models with lower range, we priced out each vehicle to get its maximum range as well. We then took it a step further by including the ratio of price to range in our comparison.

Topping the list of the most affordable EVs in Canada is the Chevrolet Bolt. The starting price of $43,147 is the second-lowest on the list, and the lowest overall when looking for the maximum range. The Bolt also costs the least per km of range by a healthy margin.

The Korean contributions are the next-most affordable. The Hyundai Kona Electric, Hyundai Ioniq 5, and Kia EV6 got good marks for providing more electric range for your dollar.

At the bottom of the list, the Mini Cooper Electric is no more affordable than the competition despite its half-sized battery pack. And the Ford Mustang Mach-E will set you back over $72,000 if you want over 500km of range.

The top 10 best selling cars in Canada ranked by insurance cost

Getting proper electric car insurance for your new vehicle is a necessity, but you shouldn’t pay more than you have to.

To compare the top 10 electric cars in Canada for insurance cost, we used our statistically representative driver, “Jennifer Madeup.” Jennifer is a 42-year-old woman from Toronto who commutes to work and drives an average of 20,000km per year. Her policy includes a $1,000 deductible, $1-million in third-party liability coverage, and endorsements for loss of use, accident waiver, and removing depreciation deduction.

When we used Jennifer’s information to compare Toronto car insurance quotes online using Ratehub.ca, the Hyundai Kona Electric came in as the most affordable vehicle to insure. Jennifer was quoted $114 a month to insure this small crossover. The Mini Cooper Electric and Chevrolet Bolt also came in under $120 per month to insure.

Higher quotes came in for the Kia EV6 and Ford Mustang Mach-E, which would cost Jennifer $138 and $141 per month to insure, respectively. The Tesla Model 3 received the highest quote by far at $160 per month.

Digging into the Canadian Loss Experience Automobile Ratings (CLEAR), Tesla vehicles top the list for the most expensive claims when it comes to collisions and property damage. Insurers pass this expense on to Tesla owners, which drives up the cost of insurance.

The top 10 best selling electric vehicles in Canada ranked by safety

Safety is always a concern when buying a new car, and electric vehicles are no different. And while this ranking shows some variation between the most popular EVs in Canada, most of the variance is actually due to a lack of information.

First, the good news: Eight of the 10 EVs in our comparison have either been named an Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) Top Safety Pick or received a five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). 

The Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 get full marks for receiving both designations.

The Kia EV6 and Ford Mustang Mach-E were named IIHS Top Safety Picks but weren’t assigned a safety rating by the NHSTA.

The Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Bolt and Polestar 2 fell on the other side of the coin, earning NHSTA five-star safety ratings but not Top Safety Pick designation. The Leaf and Bolt appear to have only been subjected to a partial battery of IIHS crash testing, while there was no IIHS data to be found for the Polestar 2.

The only two not to earn Top Safety Pick or five-star status were the Hyundai Kona Electric and Mini Cooper Electric. Despite that, the Kona fared well on five out of five IIHS crash tests, while the Mini Cooper’s gasoline-powered brother passed the IIHS 4 tests it participated in. Neither received an NHTSA safety rating.

The top 10 best selling electric vehicles in Canada ranked overall

After tallying up our scores for the top 10 best selling electric cars in Canada, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 comes out on top with 15 points out of a possible 20.

This all-electric family SUV didn’t earn top marks in any category, but it performed consistently well across the board to earn the top spot overall. The Ioniq 5 scored second overall for safety, third for price, fifth for range and sixth for insurance. 

In a very close second, the Volkswagen ID.4 edged the Ioniq 5 in the safety and insurance categories but didn’t score quite as well on price and range. Had the third place Chevrolet Bolt’s crash testing been more thorough it would likely have taken the top spot overall. 

In the middle of the pack, the Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia EV6, Polestar 2 and Nissan Leaf each showed strength in different areas. Of the four, the Kona is the cheapest electric car to insure, the EV6 boasts the best range, and the Leaf has the best safety rating.

Rounding out the list, the Tesla Model 3’s excellent safety ratings weren’t enough to make up for its high cost to purchase and insure. The Ford Mustang Mach-E excels when it comes to range, but nothing else. And the Mini Cooper Electric is cheap to insure, but comes with a high price tag, small battery, and blank spaces where safety data should be.

The bottom line

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 is Canada’s best electric car, featuring a good balance of price, range, and insurance cost, as well as excellent safety ratings. The Volkswagen ID.4 also shines in our comparison thanks to its safety scores, while the Chevrolet Bolt only misses out on first place because of incomplete crash-testing data.

When you’re shopping for a new electric car in Canada, don’t forget to compare car insurance quotes online. When gas and oil changes aren’t a factor, you might be surprised at how much of a difference the price of insurance can make to your total cost of ownership.

Also read:

• The hidden costs of owning an electric car
• How much does insurance cost for an electric car?
• What is the total cost of ownership for a car?