In December, Canada’s Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, unveiled the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, requiring all new cars, SUVs, crossovers, and light-duty pickup trucks sold in Canada to be 100% zero-emission by 2035.1 The regulation mandates escalating annual sales requirements of 20% in 2026, 60% in 2030, and reaching 100% in 2035. These targets align with California, Quebec, B.C., and several U.S. states.2

The Electric Vehicle Availability Standard challenges automakers to shift from luxury EVs to more affordable mainstream options while emphasizing the need for increased public charging stations. Companies can comply with the new regulation by selling zero-emission EVs, using credits, or investing in charging infrastructure. Ottawa has already adjusted its credit system for plug-in hybrids in response to industry concerns about the availability of charging infrastructurein certain parts of the country while still propelling Canada toward a zero-emission vehicle future.3

The government’s move, however, may simply help alleviate a bottleneck in the availability of EVs, as demand for the vehicles is already strong and growing in Canada. According to Statistics Canada, one in eight new vehicles sold in Canada is an electric or plug-in hybrid. And provincial mandates, similar to the Electric Vehicle Availability Standard, push those numbers higher. In Quebec, for example, one in five new cars is an EV, and in B.C., EV sales make up nearly 25% of new car purchases.4

BYD Company Limited

Chinese company BYD sold a record 526,000 battery-only vehicles in the final quarter of 2023, outpacing even Tesla in the last three months of the year.5 Though Tesla sold more vehicles overall in 2023, the Q4 performance by BYD marks the first time the Chinese automaker can boast of being the new worldwide leader in fully electric vehicle sales.6 BYD reported sales of more than 3 million vehicles for the year, including a mix of battery-only vehicles and hybrids. However, nearly 1.6 million of those sales were battery-only vehicles for the first time.

Source: Getty Images – Agence France-Presse Link: https://nyti.ms/3vrCrZn

The growing success of BYD is a reminder of how competitive the electric vehicle industry has become. While both Tesla and BYD cut prices in 2023 to spur growth, BYD’s advantage was its in-house manufacturing of its own EV batteries. This gave BYD the flexibility to cut prices steeply late in 2023, spurring a 70% sales spike in December alone.7

Tesla Inc

Tesla is gearing up for a significant overhaul of its popular Model Y SUV to stay competitive with domestic rivals like BYD and XPeng Inc. The revamped Model Y, set to commence mass production by mid-2024, promises more noticeable exterior and interior changes than the recent October update.

Source: Tesla Link: https://www.tesla.com/en_ca/modely

The initial batch of these updated models will be produced at Tesla’s Shanghai facility, which is responsible for over half of the company’s global deliveries. The Model Y, introduced in 2020, has become a best-seller globally, with almost 75% of Tesla’s sales in China attributed to this model. As the electric car market in China intensifies, Tesla’s strategic move to redesign the Model Y aims to maintain its market position and respond to the growing competition from local players.8

CARS ETF: Investing in Future Cars, Driving Our World Forward

The auto industry is undergoing the biggest transformation in generations and there is a growing demand for ways to invest in this industry.

The Evolve Automobile Innovation Index Fund (CARS ETF), is Canada’s first automobile innovation ETF. CARS takes a diversified approach to invest in the development of electric cars, self-driving cars, and automobile innovation, including in some of the world’s leading manufacturers and automobile companies. CARS is a great way to gain access to the future of the automobile and shift your investments into gear.

For more information on the Evolve Automobile Innovation Index Fund or any of Evolve ETF’s lineup of exchange-traded funds, please visit our website or contact info@evolveetfs.com.

Portfolio Strategy and Activity

For the month, Alfen N.V. made the largest contribution to the Fund, followed by RivianAutomotive Inc and FuelCell Energy Inc. The largest detractors to performance for the month were XPeng Inc, followed by GS Yuasa Corporation and Fluence Energy Inc.

Sources

1. Stueck, W., “Auto industry wins concessions on hybrid vehicles under Canada’s zero-emissions regulations,” The Globe and Mail, December 20, 2023; https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ev-hybrid-emissions-regulations/

2. Bubbers, M., “The Liberal EV mandate is no moonshot. We need it if we want to see cheaper EVs,” The Globe and Mail, December 21, 2023; https://www.theglobeandmail.com/drive/culture/article-the-liberal-ev-mandate-is-no-moonshot-we-need-it-if-we-want-to-see/

3. Stueck, W., “Auto industry wins concessions on hybrid vehicles under Canada’s zero-emissions regulations,” The Globe and Mail, December 20, 2023; https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-ev-hybrid-emissions-regulations/

4. Chown Oved, M., “Canada will require all new cars to be zero emissions vehicles by 2035,” The Toronto Star, December 17, 2023; https://www.thestar.com/autos/canada-will-require-all-new-cars-to-be-zero-emissions-vehicles-by-2035/article_c950d280-9b84-11ee-a6e3-27345595b216.html

5. Hoskins, P. & Sherman, N., “China’s BYD overtakes Tesla’s electric car sales in last quarter of 2023,” BBC News, January 2, 2024; https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67860232

6. Lee, D., “Chinese Carmaker Overtakes Tesla as World’s Most Popular EV Maker,” Bloomberg, December 26, 2023; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2023-12-27/elon-musk-s-tesla-is-losing-ev-race-to-china-s-byd

7. Hoskins, P. & Sherman, N., “China’s BYD overtakes Tesla’s electric car sales in last quarter of 2023,” BBC News, January 2, 2024; https://www.bbc.com/news/business-67860232

8. “Tesla Plans Revamp of Smash Hit Model Y From China Plant,” Bloomberg News, December 26, 2023; https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-27/tesla-said-to-plan-revamp-of-smash-hit-model-y-from-china-plant

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