The provincial rebate will apply toward the total purchase and installation cost of installing a 240-volt charging station.Michael Bettencourt
Asked prior to the federal election, many Canadians said they care about the environment – but the issue becomes less important when searching for a new vehicle.
"People will vote that way, but they won't buy that way," says Deepak Anand, head of industry, auto, for Google Canada."
Google search results for fuel economy were down 25 per cent in 2015, according to trends released by Google. Anand says search is an indicator of what people are looking to buy.
"Canadians are green, but notoriously careful with our money," he says. "The biggest driving factor to buy a fuel-efficient vehicle is the cost of gas at the pump … (a car) just being fuel efficient isn't enough."
He says the only time search results increase for fuel efficiency is when gas prices rise and, when that happens, a surprising amount of the search traffic is conducted on a mobile device. Anand suspects drivers are searching for more fuel-efficient cars on their phones while filling up with expensive gas.
Anand says this shows that consumers only really want vehicles with hybrid or electric powertrains if the government were to offer major incentives in order for the price to be more in line with gas engine cars.
Sales figures back up Google's research. A record 1.85 million new vehicles were sold in Canada in 2014, meanwhile just more than 10,000 all-electric and plug-in hybrids were sold between 2011 and 2014. Hybrid sales peaked in 2012 and have been on a decline since gas prices slid last June.
While Canadians may be searching less often for fuel economy, they are searching more for car technology, which was up 75 per cent in 2015. The most searched in-car technology is infotainment.
"It (in-car technology) is now becoming a driving factor behind the purchase," says Anand. "More people are looking at technology features as a decision."
He says many buyers have decided on a few features they want in their new car such as park assist or the ability to easily connect a phone. In-car technology is changing quickly. Even getting in a car that is two years old can seem 'prehistoric', says Anand, because it doesn't have axillary jacks.
The number of searches for four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive was up 12 per cent in 2015.
"It (an AWD car) used to be too expensive and not fuel-efficient enough, but now that isn't the case," says Anand, adding some insurance companies now offer discounts and they are often better for winter. "I think you will see AWD more and more become a standard thing."
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