Bigger, taller, stronger: the proportion of SUVs and pickup trucks on our roads has more than doubled since 2011, according to a compilation by the Bureau of Inquiry.
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Sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and pickup trucks are increasingly present on our roads. They formed 42.17% of the car fleet in 2020, but accounted for only 20.82% in 2011, according to figures obtained from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec.
Minivans are the only light trucks to have lost ground since 2011: they fell from 208,858 units in 2011 to just 111,500 in 2020.
Cars, for their part, have seen their proportion drop from 71.32% in 2011 to 55.11% in 2020.
This is partly explained by a change in Quebec’s automobile culture in the last decade.
“Previously, our preferences were less towards gas-guzzling vehicles. Our consumer preferences are becoming more and more similar to those of other Canadian provinces, that is to say the big pickups,” says Fanny Tremblay-Racicot, professor at the National School of Public Administration.
- Listen to the analysis of Germain Goyer, content producer for The Car Guide
Ever-popular trucks
With nearly 145,000 on the road, the Ford F-150 is by far the most popular pickup truck and the fourth most popular vehicle across all categories.
The F-series, which includes Ford’s entire line of trucks, is still the best-selling vehicle in Quebec.
This type of vehicle is more popular in remote areas. In Nord-du-Québec, for example, almost one in two vehicles is a pickup truck.
“It’s not a few people driving around in a pick-up truck in a rural area that are the source of the problem. It’s a lot more people in urban and peri-urban areas, ”says Andréanne Brazeau, mobility analyst at Équiterre.
“Environmental Disaster”
According to a report by the Chair in Energy Sector Management at HEC Montreal, light trucks have been the main cause of the increase in greenhouse gas emissions in Quebec since 2014.
According to Pierre-Olivier Pineau, holder of the chair, Quebec has “too many” large vehicles. “It’s an environmental disaster and it costs too much.”
“Since the financing system is very easy for vehicles, it allows everyone to buy one, even people with excessive debt,” worries the professor at HEC Montreal.
The average price of a light truck is regarding $10,000 more than a car.
Strongest sales growth between 2011 and 2020
VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN: 543,42 %
TOYOTA PRIUS: 653,21 %
NISSAN ROGUE: 415,89 %
JEEP CHEROKEE: 490,51 %
CHEVROLET CRUZE: 362,54 %
The electric car will not solve everything
Quebec has more and more electric vehicles on its roads, but this shift will not solve all the problems, warn experts.
“The electrification of transport will not reduce the problem of greenhouse gas emissions from transport on its own”, maintains Fanny Tremblay-Racicot, professor at the National School of Public Administration.
As of December 31, 2021, 128,599 electric vehicles were in circulation, an increase of 39.01% compared to 2020, according to a compilation by the Association of Electric Vehicles of Quebec (AVEQ).
However, this progress might be slowed down by delivery times for electric cars, which can take more than a year.
“It’s discouraging to see when you go to a dealership that there’s no vehicle to try out or even sell to you,” says Simon-Pierre Rioux, president of the AVEQ.
Quebec is aiming for 1.5 million electric cars on our roads by 2030.
Always more cars
Meanwhile, the car fleet continues to grow. Since 2011, 848,593 additional vehicles have been driving on Quebec roads, an increase of 14.18%, according to figures obtained from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ).
In 2020 alone, 136,641 more vehicles were registered.
For every electric vehicle sold, 15 light trucks hit the market.
Still problems
The transition to an all-electric fleet will not solve all the problems associated with car use, experts warn.
“If it’s just pick-ups and large electric SUVs, we haven’t solved any congestion problems and no road safety problems. Electric vehicles are heavier than their gas-powered version, which damages our road infrastructure,” says Andréanne Brazeau, mobility analyst at Équiterre.
For example, the electric version of the Ford F-150 weighs 6500 pounds. Its weight is 35% higher than the gasoline model due to its battery which weighs 1800 pounds.
According to Fanny Tremblay-Racicot, the solution therefore involves raising awareness, eco-taxation and better management of transport demand, in order to reduce the number of trips and reduce their length.
“We need to increase density and reduce urban sprawl, ensure that people don’t need to take their car every time they travel and have fleets of shared vehicles, like Communauto,” she exemplifies.
– With Philippe Langlois, Bureau of Investigation