Quebec is suddenly seeing trouble in its EV paradise

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MONTREAL — U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest tariff on the auto sector is a new blow to electric vehicle owners in Quebec but, in the province with the most electric vehicles in the country, EVs were already losing their lustre.

Robert Brunelle, a resident of Saint-Lambert, Quebec, is almost relieved after getting into a car accident last year. He bought a Tesla Model S in 2021 because it’s “a great car.” It’s fast. It’s quiet. It’s cutting-edge technology.

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But Brunelle soon realized that recharging his car every 350 or 400 kilometres (and less in winter) was a pain. For a sales representative who was often on the road, the electric vehicle wasn’t exactly what he needed.

Then came the accident. The car was scrapped and he had to replace it.

“The decision to go back to gasoline was easy for me,” he said.

By switching back to a conventional car, Brunelle has lost the advantages of an electric car. Driving such a car in Quebec costs on average 10 to 20 per cent less than a conventional car, even if the price tag is high.

On the other hand, he enjoys more freedom, less stress, and won’t have to pay the $125 provincial tax each year, announced this week by the provincial government.

And then there’s the Trump factor, of course. Ever since the Republican started hanging out with the world’s richest man and Tesla boss, Elon Musk, life has been tough for Tesla owners.

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“You don’t want to be identified with Musk, who is such a representative element of Tesla,” says Brunelle said. “With what he’s doing now, I wouldn’t have been the proudest guy to own a Tesla.”

After injecting millions of dollars to get Donald Trump elected president of the United States, Musk is now one of the president’s closest advisors and is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and is one the most controversial figures in the world.

All over the world, there are Tesla cars and dealerships are being vandalized with paint, stripes, and swastikas. In Montreal, two environmental activists are facing criminal charges after a dealership was targeted with graffiti. National Post attempted to reach the manager to discuss the situation but was unsuccessful. An employee at the location told us it was impossible to get a comment.

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Stéphane Pascalon, the president of Club Tesla Quebec, a group with about 1,000 Tesla owners in the province, has noticed the climate shift dramatically in recent months in the province where Teslas are very popular.

In Quebec, there were more than 50,000 Teslas registered in 2024, which is eight per cent of the 376,000 electric vehicles in the province, according to the Quebec Electric Vehicle Association. Forty-four per cent of all Canadian EV cars are registered in Quebec.

You don’t want to be identified with Musk

“What we noticed is that 80 per cent of our members want to have a complete disassociation between Tesla and Elon Musk,” said Pascalon. “So, people don’t want to be associated with Elon Musk, but they remain very satisfied with their products.”

In Brossard, on Montreal’s South Shore, all 12 Tesla Supercharger stations located in a busy shopping mall were available at noon. After a few minutes, Maxime Venne parked his car to recharge.

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“Usually, when I come here, the chargers are always taken,” he said with a laugh.

Many Tesla owners admit to being embarrassed to drive their cars. In Saint-Lambert, where Robert Brunelle lives, it’s rumoured that some owners “hide their cars.”

“People are a little more fearful, so I don’t know if they hide it, because people in general still need their cars, but it’s certain that the pride they felt in driving a Tesla is less obvious,” explains Pascalon.

However, Venne doesn’t care about the bad press. He loves his Tesla.

“It’s not like I have a MAGA flag on my car. I didn’t buy a Tesla to support anyone, but because it was the best car for me,” he says.

While his car was charging, two others parked next to his. At one point, four of the twelve Superchargers were in use.

No one was embarrassed to drive their car.

“It’s a little scary. Even my mom tells me, ‘Be careful with your car, I don’t want someone to come and vandalize it with everything that’s going on in the United States.’ It’s a little sad, honestly,” said Latoya Evans, who bought her car in 2022.

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At the Quebec Electric Vehicle Association, administrator Sébastien Raîche says the situation “worries us,” but quickly points out that the media is fuelling the phenomenon and that there are still “isolated incidents.”

The industry nevertheless remains concerned about international events. The Canada-U.S. relationship, the tariffs imposed by the American president, and the global supply chain are all closely monitored.

“Since the Suez Canal blockage (in 2021), we’ve realized that we are partly dependent on globalization. There aren’t enough parts manufactured locally in Canada, and there are some in the United States, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult,” said Sébastien Raîche.

National Post
atrepanier@postmedia.com

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