EVs are getting easier to find -- but with price tags out of reach for many Canadians

Canada's electric vehicle market keeps getting bigger, but that's not necessarily good news for consumers -- or the environment. Manufacturers are leaning heavily on electrified SUVs, trucks and large cars that mean high prices and profits for the automakers.

Canada's electric vehicle market keeps getting bigger, but that's not necessarily good news for consumers -- or the environment.

Manufacturers are leaning heavily on electrified SUVs, trucks and large cars that mean high prices and profits for the automakers.

The trend has helped push the average price for an EV to almost $73,000, according to Canadian Black Book, making it well out of reach for most households. That's true even with signs of downward pressure from Tesla price drops.

Experts say cheaper options will be crucial if Canada is to transition away from the combustion engine. They say Chinese automakers could fill the gap if established players don't step up.

"We drastically have to figure out how to produce more affordable vehicles," said Rebekah Young, head of resilience economics at Scotiabank.

In a recent report, her team calculated that EV prices will have to come down by about one-third to be affordable for middle-income households and by half for those in lower-income brackets.

The need for cheaper vehicles comes as Canadians are being squeezed elsewhere on costs like housing. But Young said lower EV prices won't come easily: automakers face rising cost pressure on everything from materials and labour to the huge research efforts and plant retrofits required to transition to electric vehicles.