The Canadian province of British Columbia (the left coast of the country, for those with a terrible sense of geography) has for the last few years offered buyers of electric vehicles a rebate in order to incentivize the adoption of the technology — and thereby potentially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and urban air pollution.
After having run dry a few years back, and then been refilled following the creation of a new budget, it looks like it’s about to run out again. Only ~CAD$350,000 is available as of the time of me writing this. Not much really, when considering the rebate sums involved.
To date, the Clean Energy Vehicles for British Columbia incentive program has dispersed CAD$4,144,834 in funds, with a further CAD$2,143,337 of funds being reserved. So, an overall success, I’d say — though, one that’ll need to continue if the rate of electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the province is going to continue rising.
As noted during a recent conversation on the Tesla Motors Club forum, though, there are other means of supporting EV adoption that are perhaps better options. (Or good complementary options.)
The commentator “beeeerock” stated: “If the government simply decided to forego the incremental luxury tax on EV’s that would be a big help. I for one found it rather insulting that my purchase was taxed the same way as if I’d bought a Ferrari or Aston Martin. Charging tax on our good intentions that actually further the government’s lip service on addressing climate change isn’t reasonable. For that matter, they could scrap the rebate program and simply not charge PST on EV’s… period. Then your savings would be proportional to your expenditure.”
For more on the topic of how to incentivize EVs, see: “EV Incentives EV Enthusiasts Think Are Most Enticing.”
Despite being continued following the depletion of funds in the past, it’s a bit of an open question whether the province will do so again considering the current (and growing) economic problems in Canada — as noted by the commentator “Soolim.”
(Tip of the hat here to “AI604” on the Tesla Motors Club forum for this news.)