The Chevrolet Bolt, one of Canada’s most popular electric car, is among the vehicles eligible for federal rebates that came into effect Wed. (Duane Burleson/Associated Press)

May 1 2019 – CBC

Federal rebates to encourage Canadians to buy electric cars take effect today.

The rebates, announced in the last federal budget, will take up to $5,000 off the cost of electric vehicles, and $2,500 off plug-in hybrids, but they initially applied only to cars that cost less than $45,000.

Ottawa is raising that to $55,000 to increase the options a buyer can choose and still receive the rebate, which will allow some of the most popular cars, including the Tesla Model 3, to qualify. Tesla recently launched a cheaper Model 3 in Canada with a 150-kilometre-range to qualify for the previous limit, according to Electrek.

Nine electric cars and 13 plug-in hybrids are eligible, including the country’s second- and third-most popular electric cars, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Bolt.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/federal-rebate-electric-car-1.5117934

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Comments

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A waste of tax $.

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I agree that it is not as environmentally friendly when the source electricity is coal or natural gas. Large parts of the Canadian supply comes from hydro which is not perfect but better in many ways if done properly. More transitioning away from fossil fuels underway across Canada.

Ontario dropped a $14,000 rebate on EV’s last year and sales dropped by 70%. That was a large rebate and benefited the wealthy most.

There is related investments as well. In the last three years the federal government has spent $182 million to buy and install more vehicle-charging stations.

The 2009 Electric Vehicle Technology Road Map for Canada, produced by a panel of experts in part for the Department of Natural Resources, aimed for 500,000 cars with the hope of galvanizing industry to make and sell them and government to encourage people to buy them.

The report warned the electric-vehicle train was already leaving the station and Canada wasn’t on it. It outlined things the government and the private sector should do to ensure Canada didn’t miss out on the economic and environmental benefits of an electric-vehicle industry.

They have fell well short of target with only about 100,000 sold. Not sure how many hybrids were sold which can help transition but TCO still higher than conventional in many cases until more more Hybrids and EVs are sold.

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In cold weather, hybrids run all day long to keep the heat going. Every megawatt diverted to vehicle use results in more fossil fuel burned, no matter what the local utility uses. Every MW of hydro which is not sent to the US, means more coal is burned, somewhere.

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