The largely francophone Canadian province of Quebec is planning to invest around $420 million into its new electric vehicle support program over the next 5 years, according to recent reports.
The new electric vehicle (EV) support plan — dubbed “Propulser le Québec par l’électricité” (Driving Quebec With Electricity) — coming via the province’s Liberal government is apparently intended to spur the deployment of over 100,000 EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) over the next half decade or so.
The new plan follows on an earlier 3-year plan put into practice by the former Parti Québécois government which saw a pledge of $516 million in support for EVs put into practice.
CBC News provides more:
Documents obtained by Radio-Canada show that the government expects more than 100,000 electric and hybrid gas-electric cars to hit the roads in the next five years.
In order to encourage motorists to choose electric over gas-powered cars, the government plans to install 785 public-access charging stations and 60 or so quick-charging stations. It will also ask businesses to install charging units for employees.
Government documents show that the Couillard government will also maintain the rebate system introduced by the Liberals during Jean Charest’s tenure. Under that program, people buying or leasing electric or hybrid vehicles qualify for rebates of up to $8,000.
According to government projections, these actions should result in greenhouse gas emissions reductions of around 150,000 tonnes a year — starting in 2020. The plan will reportedly also result in the creation of around 5000 jobs, and the investment of around $500 million of private funds — those figures are of course official projections. The actual reality of the plans is something that we’ll have to wait to observe.
As part of broader push for EVs, the government of Quebec will reportedly be introducing around 1,000 new EVs to its own fleets by 2020.
A plan is also apparently going forward that will see EV drivers given access to special car lanes, and given free travel through various toll bridges + roads — this reportedly will begin at the start of calendar year 2016.