End of Ontario electric vehicle rebate program likely to hit sales
Posted July 13, 2018 12:49 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s decision to cancel rebates for electric vehicles in the province is expected to have a knock-on effect on sales.
David Adams, president of the Global Automakers of Canada industry association, says experience from British Columbia and elsewhere shows that sales of electric vehicles take a hit when subsidies are removed.
The Ontario program offered up to $14,000 back for buyers, but the new Ford government cancelled the rebate this week along with the cap-and-trade program that helped fund it as part of wider cost-cutting measures.
According to data compiled by Fleet Carma, 7,477 battery and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles were sold in Ontario last year.
The sales were an increase of 120 per cent from 2016, when increased rebates were implemented.
The Ontario government has also cancelled an incentive program for electric vehicle charging stations that offered up to $1,000 to offset the cost of a home or office station.
