May 11, 2026 - Chinese EVs Begin Arriving In Canada

This is the Telemetry Transportation Daily for May 11, 2026, and I'm Sam Abuelsamid, Vice President of Market Research for Telemetry. 

Following the recent trade deal between Canada and China, several Chinese automakers have now begun shipping electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to Canada. In exchange for China dropping tariffs on some Canadian agricultural products, Canada slashed tariffs on Chinese EVs from 100% to just 6.1%.  Only 49,000 vehicles a year will be allowed to be imported initially, with that number growing to 70,000 by 2030. Half of those vehicles have to be priced under CAD$35,000. 

The first two batches of vehicles to arrive are from Geely and Chery. Geely has shipped over about 18 Lotus Eletre electric SUVs, which were initially launched prior to the increased tariffs. The price has now been cut by nearly half, but it still starts at $120,000. This is likely to be just the beginning for Geely, which also owns numerous other brands, including Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, and Lynk&Co, with the latter two likely to expand their offerings to Canada before long. The Zeekr X and Lync&Co 02 could potentially come in under the $35000 threshold without tariffs.

For now, the more interesting arrival is Chery, which has brought in about 150 vehicles from its Jaecoo, Omoda, and Exeed brands, including electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range EV models. These will be used for evaluation and certification tests, and opening up a test drive program in the coming months. Chery is targeting to have 10 dealers open by the end of June and plans to import another 1,000 vehicles in the next 3 months. 

These are likely to be followed in the next several months by BYD, which has plans for at least 20 dealers in Canada by early 2027. Chery and BYD will probably also be looking at opportunities for potential production in Canada within the next few years. 

Thanks for listening.