Before you ever start clicking on automaker websites or used car listings, it’s important to understand all the different types of vehicles on the market in Canada today. This will help you get a feel for which kinds of cars will best meet your household’s needs, which lets you focus your search.
Here, we break down the different types of cars you’ll find on the new and used vehicle market in Canada. We also look at the different types of powertrains available to you, from gas-powered to hybrid and electric vehicles. Once you understand the differences between vehicles and what your options are, you’ll be another step closer to finding your next car.
Go back to Section 1: Should you buy a new or a used car? Here’s how to decide
What are the different types of vehicles?
Vehicles fall into four general categories: Cars, SUVs, Pick-up trucks, and Minivans. Within these four categories, there are many subcategories with varying sizes and capabilities.
Types of cars
Cars come in a wide variety of shapes. A sedan is traditionally a car with four doors and a trunk, while a coupe has two doors and a trunk. A convertible is typically a coupe with a retractable roof. A hatchback may have two or four side doors — four is the default on modern cars — and it has a liftgate similar to what you’ll find on an SUV. A wagon is essentially an elongated hatchback with a larger cargo space.
Regardless of shape, cars are generally (but not always) lower to the ground than SUVs and trucks. Cars may come with all-wheel drive (AWD), but it’s not a given, especially among mainstream brands. While they’re not as capable as SUVs or trucks on rugged terrain, cars offer the benefits of better drive dynamics and fuel economy.
Size classes among cars include:
- Subcompact (e.g., Nissan Versa, Mitsubishi Mirage)
- Compact (e.g., Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla)
- Midsize (e.g., Honda Accord, Toyota Camry)
- Large (e.g., Dodge Charger, Lexus LS)
Types of SUVs
SUVs come in a variety of sizes, but their shapes are nearly always the same. An SUV is nearly always a four-door vehicle that’s taller in proportions than a car and has a tailgate.
Most SUVs have more ground clearance than cars, which lets them tackle more difficult terrain. AWD is more commonly available on SUVs than cars, but it’s not universal: some lower-budget vehicles marketed as SUVs may offer front-wheel drive (FWD) only. Many buyers choose an SUV because it offers a more flexible cargo space than a car with a trunk. (Note, though, that hatchbacks and wagons offer similarly flexible cargo areas.) Larger SUVs commonly offer some towing capacity. The downsides of choosing SUVs are that they’re typically less fuel-efficient and more cumbersome to drive than cars.
What’s the difference between an SUV and a crossover? By the purest definition, SUVs are purpose-built vehicles with off-road capability (and are often based on truck platforms), while crossovers share platforms with cars and have more car-like features and drive characteristics. These days, the two terms are commonly used interchangeably.
Size classes among SUVs include:
- Subcompact (includes budget vehicles like the Hyundai Venue or the Nissan Kicks Play, and more upmarket crossovers like the Kia Seltos or Toyota Corolla Cross)
- Compact (e.g., Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4)
- Midsize (includes two-row SUVs like the Mazda CX-70 or Jeep Grand Cherokee, and smaller three-row SUVs like the Kia Sorento, Hyundai Palisade, and Kia Telluride)
- Large (e.g., Chevrolet Tahoe, Toyota Sequoia; these are all three-row SUVs)
Types of pick-up trucks
A pick-up truck is any vehicle that has a cabin at the front (which may have one or two rows) and a separate bed for cargo at the back.
Trucks come with a wide variety of capabilities. Some are smaller and better suited to city driving, while others may have enormous passenger and cargo spaces and massive towing capacities. Most people who choose trucks do so for their separated cargo area, high ground clearance, and unique towing and off-road functionality.
Size classes among trucks include:
- Compact (e.g., Ford Maverick, Hyundai Santa Cruz)
- Midsize (e.g., Chevrolet Colorado, Toyota Tacoma)
- Full-size (also known as half-ton pick-up trucks; e.g., Ford F-150, Ram 1500, Chevrolet Silverado 1500)
- Heavy duty (also known as three-quarter-ton and one-ton pick-up trucks; e.g., Ford F-250/F-350/F-450 Super Duty trucks and similar lines for the Chevrolet Silverado HD, GMC Sierra HD, and Ram Heavy Duty)
Type of minivans
Today’s minivans only come in one body style: two hinged front doors, two sliding rear side doors, and a liftgate.
Minivans typically have car-like ground clearance but cabin space that can far exceed similarly sized SUVs. Some come with all-wheel drive, though this feature is uncommon. Buyers who choose minivans typically need the maximum amount of passenger and cargo space they can get for their money, often because they have large families to move around.
There used to be more size differences among minivans, but most modern minivans are close in proportions. Minivan examples include the Chrysler Grand Caravan and Chrysler Pacifica, Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, and Kia Carnival.
What are the different types of powertrains?
Just as there are distinct types of cars, there are four distinct types of powertrains available on today’s automotive market: internal combustion engine, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric. Each of these powertrains comes with clear advantages and disadvantages.
Internal combustion engine
Internal combustion engines (ICE) were the default for automotive propulsion for more than a century. An ICE powertrain has a gasoline-powered engine with no other source of power. When we refer to a vehicle as ICE or gas-only today, it’s typically to distinguish its from the electrified powertrains listed below.
The main advantages of ICE vehicles are cost and familiarity. They tend to be priced lower up-front than electrified vehicles, and their owners typically already understand how to use and maintain them. The biggest disadvantage is that even the most efficient ICE vehicles can’t match electrified vehicles on outright fuel economy. Outside the realm of performance vehicles, ICE cars also tend to feel sluggish compared to electrified cars.
Hybrid
A hybrid powertrain combines a gas-powered engine with one or more electric motors and a battery. You may also see this powertrain referred to as a conventional hybrid or a self-charging hybrid. In this type of hybrid cars, the battery is recharged by the internal combustion engine and by recovering energy from braking. This allows the electric motors to deliver power while the ICE does less work, making the vehicle more fuel-efficient. This type of hybrid does not store enough energy to allow for electric-only driving over long distances. A conventional hybrid doesn’t need to be plugged in, so operates similarly to an ICE vehicle from the owner’s perspective.
Reasons to choose a conventional or self-charging hybrid include better fuel economy relative to ICE vehicles and simpler operation versus plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles. The disadvantages of conventional hybrids are that they don’t allow the even greater efficiency of electric-only driving and they’re typically more expensive up-front than their ICE counterparts.
Plug-in hybrid
Like a conventional hybrid, a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain consists of an internal combustion engine, one or more electric motors, and a battery. However, the battery in a PHEV is larger than in a conventional hybrid. This allows the vehicle to be driven only on electric power for a distance. In modern PHEVs, this distance can range from 20 to 70 kilometres, or more in rare cases. Once the battery’s charge is depleted, the vehicle relies on the gas engine for power and functions more like a conventional hybrid. To access this electric-only range, owners need to recharge a PHEV’s battery by plugging it in.
A PHEV’s biggest advantage is that it offers superior fuel economy compared to conventional hybrid and ICE vehicles. This includes access to electric-only driving, which can save commuters a lot of money. The downsides to PHEVs include higher up-front cost — though some qualify for government rebates, which can be substantial in some parts of Canada — and that owners need to remember to plug them in to see the greatest benefits.
Battery electric vehicles
A battery electric vehicle (EV or BEV) doesn’t come with an internal combustion engine at all. Instead, the powertrain consists of one or more electric motors and a battery. Once an EV’s battery is depleted, its energy must be recovered at an EV charging station before it can be driven again. Most EV drivers charge their electric vehicles at their homes, though public charging station are required for longer road trips.
EVs come with several significant advantages. Electricity costs less than gasoline in most places, so they can save owners money that way. They also perform extremely well relative to ICE vehicles since their full power is available instantly when you hit the throttle. The main disadvantage is that EVs require drivers to fully reprogram their habits and mindsets around how vehicles work, particularly relating to range anxiety and recharging. They also cost more up front than other vehicles, though buyers can recover some money through Canada’s federal and provincial/territorial EV rebate programs.
Hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) are also BEVs. They’re powered by hydrogen — which is loaded into the vehicle similarly to how gas is pumped into an ICE vehicle — and their only emission is water. Currently, hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is scarce in Canada, so FCEVs are sold only where stations exist (i.e., Quebec and B.C.), and they can’t travel into areas where hydrogen refuelling isn’t available.
Continue to Section 3: How much should I spend on a new car?
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