How to test drive an electric vehicle in Canada

Booking works differently depending on the brand

This is where most people get stuck, and it is not obvious from the outside. Some manufacturers book the drive themselves; most hand you to a franchise dealer who may not have that model on the lot; and several brands in our catalogue cannot be driven in Canada at all yet.

What to check that you would not check on a gas car

Twenty minutes around the block tells you about the seats. These are the things that tell you about the car.

1. 1

   Lift off and see what happens

   Regenerative braking is the single biggest change in how the car feels. Find the setting, turn it up, and check whether it holds the car on a hill and whether it brings you to a complete stop or hands you back to the brake pedal at walking pace.

2. 2

   Ask to fast charge during the drive

   Almost nobody asks, and it is the most informative twenty minutes available. You learn what the car does at a real charger, how quickly it actually ramps, and whether the screen tells you anything useful while it happens. If the answer is no, ask why.

3. 3

   Look at the charge port

   Which connector it takes decides which chargers you can use without thinking. Ask which adapter is in the boot, whether it is included or extra, and where on the car the port sits — that decides how you park at every charger for the next eight years.

4. 4

   Ask whether this one has a heat pump

   Not whether the model offers one — whether this car does. It is routinely fitted to some trims and not others, and in a Canadian February it is the difference between losing a fifth of your range and losing a third.

5. 5

   Reset the consumption readout at the start

   Find the trip computer, zero it before you pull out, and read it at the end. That number, against the car's rated figure, is the only honest range estimate you will get that day.

6. 6

   Find the onboard charger's rating

   It decides how long the car takes on a home charger, and it varies between trims of the same model. The difference is a full night versus half of one, and no amount of DC fast-charging capability changes it.

7. 7

   Try the preconditioning, whatever the season

   Ask to see it scheduled from the app, not just described. Warming the cabin and the battery while the car is still plugged in is what makes a Canadian winter commute normal instead of expensive.

8. 8

   Load it the way you will actually load it

   Fold the rear seats and look at whether the floor is flat. Open the front boot, if there is one, and see whether it holds anything you own. A skateboard-platform EV is a different shape inside from the gas car it resembles outside.

Questions with a right answer

Each of these has a factual answer that a well-prepared salesperson has to hand. How they handle not knowing is useful information too.

Before you go

Where each brand takes the booking

Every brand in our catalogue. Links go to the manufacturer's own Canadian booking page and nowhere else — no dealer groups, no lead-generation forms, and nothing that passes your details to a third party.

15 of 38 brands checked. The rest are listed as unchecked rather than guessed.

Before or after the drive

• Browse every EV sold in Canada
• Compare two vehicles side by side
• What charging costs where you live
• Rebates you may be eligible for
• Chinese EVs and when they arrive