The number of people driving electric vehicles has increased over the past year in many northeastern cities.
The report was released by the Greater Sudbury chapter of the Electric Vehicle Society (EVS).
Sudbury reached a milestone of 1,000 registered EVs on the road by the end of December 2023, a 49 per cent increase from 2022.
"That’s a pretty big milestone for a northern community like Sudbury so we're really excited for these numbers," said society president Devin Arthur.
Arthur attributes the increase to interest in critical minerals with battery electric vehicles to use in the mining industry.
"There's a lot of excitement over critical minerals going into EV batteries so a lot of people building that connection, people that work in the industry are adopting the EVs at a higher rate than normal," he said.
Arthur added there's also more information available about EVs.
"Also the education aspect, so people are gaining that knowledge, about how they work, how they run in colder climates like Sudbury."
A year ago, Cambrian College installed 20 electric vehicle chargers. Since then, Dan Lessard, communications manager, said usage has been consistent.
"We've averaged about 8-12 unique users a month and they're charging on average 40-45 charges per month," Lessard said.
"Since we've installed them, we've saved 4,500 kg in greenhouse gases, so we're getting there. It’s a start."
The EV chargers are available to staff, students and anyone with an electric vehicle. Lessard said it’s mainly staff and students that use them, so increasing awareness that the chargers are available for anyone is important.
Public charging stations at Cambrian
"We hope to increase usage as more people have electric vehicles and recognize we have chargers here," he said.
In other parts of the north, Arthur said Timmins, North Bay and Sault Ste Marie are also seeing increases between 40 to 60 per cent.
Jairus Patterson, supervisor of communications for Public Utilities Commission in Sault Ste. Marie, said the number of people driving EVs has almost doubled in the past year.
"In 2022, we had 118 registered EV owners in our region and last year that jumped up to 235," he said.
"So you're looking at almost double for the whole year."
Last year, PUC was a part of the Sault's first EV Showcase, to introduce EVs to the public and answer any questions.
Patterson said there are more options now when it comes to electric vehicles.
"We're starting to see it more as readily available, more stock that is out there as you drive to the dealership and you're seeing more available to purchase," he said.
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Arthur said increasing charging infrastructure is still a concern.
"I think building up the infrastructure will give people confidence to buy EVs," he said.
He said that will be a focus of the EV Society in 2024.
Correction
Jairus Patterson's first name was misspelled in the original article and has been corrected above.
