Majority of BC Residents Oppose Planned New-Car EV Sales Mandate

Vancouver, BC, August 25, 2025 – A new Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of the Energy Futures Institute shows a majority of BC residents in opposition to the implementation of new-car EV sales mandates.

Survey respondents were shown the following information and then asked whether they would support or oppose this new-car EV sales mandate.

Both the federal and BC Government have enacted legislation requiring a certain percentage of new car sales to be electric vehicles. Traditional hybrid vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius Hybrid or Honda Civic Hybrid which don’t ‘plug-in’, do not count towards the required EV sales percentage.

Manufacturers who do not achieve the required percentage of new car sales under BC legislation may face a $20,000 penalty for each vehicle that exceeds the percentage of non-electric vehicles allowed.

In BC, the required percentage of electric vehicles increases by year as follows:
26% electric vehicle sales for the 2026 model year
90% electric vehicle sales for the 2030 model year
100% electric vehicle sales for the 2035 model year

Until this year, the federal government offered rebates to buyers of new electric vehicles of up to $5,000 per vehicle and the provincial government offered up to $4,000 subject to income levels. These rebates are currently no longer offered by either government.

A majority (56%) of BC residents say they oppose the planned new-car EV sales mandate, compared to one-third (34%) in support. Strong opposition (36%) is much higher than strong support (10%) for the mandate. Opposition to the EV Mandate has increased 3 percentage points compared to a similar question asked in August 2024 (53% oppose vs. 38% support).

• Opposition to the new-car EV sales mandate is much higher among older residents (66% among 55+ years vs. 43% among 18-34 years) and those in the Southern Interior/North (68% vs. 49% in Metro Vancouver).

If the new-car EV sales mandates are kept in place, three-quarters (76%) of BC residents support allowing regular hybrid vehicles to count toward the EV sales percentage, while one-in-ten (11%) are opposed and 13% are undecided.

If the new-car EV sales mandates are kept in place, more than six-in-ten (63%) BC residents support re-instating government rebates for EVs, while three-in-ten (28%) are opposed and 9% are undecided.

The survey also asked about important reasons why BC residents may not purchase an all-electric vehicle. The top three barriers are price (64%), limited vehicle range on a charge (46%) and lack of access to charging stations (43%). Other frequently mentioned barriers include cost of maintenance and repair (37%), the time it takes to charge (37%), not being able to charge the vehicle at home (32%) and quality and reliability concerns (28%).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted July 31 to August 6, 2025, on behalf of the Energy Futures Initiative. For this survey, a sample of 801 adult British Columbians were surveyed online with sample sourced through the Ipsos panel. Data was weighted by BC region, age, gender and education, in accordance with Census proportions. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll is accurate to within ±4.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Kyle Braid
Senior Vice President
Ipsos Public Affairs Canada 
+1 604 788 2417
[email protected]

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