B.C. changes EV rebate rules

A move by the British Columbia government to reduce the level of qualifying electric and hybrid vehicles from its rebate program is drawing the ire of leaders of the Canadian auto industry.

The CleanBC Go Electric rebate provides up to $4,000 to qualifying zero-emission vehicles. The province dropped the maximum cost of qualifying vehicles on Tuesday to $50,000 — from the previous $55,000.

Groups say three-quarters of battery electric, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell-powered cars no longer qualify for the rebate.

“In the past 24 hours, I have been inundated with calls from new car dealers, expressing grave concern about changes to the program and, in some cases, suggesting they may cancel orders for vehicles they don’t feel they will be able to sell in the new environment,” said Blair Qualey, president and CEO of the New Car Dealers Association of B.C. in a statement.

“We are astonished and extremely disappointed by the announced changes to BC’s ZEV rebate program,” said a statement from Tim Reuss, president and CEO of the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association.

He further added the move was “decided in great haste and without any consultation with the industry, but it contradicts the province’s own ZEV ambitions” and that cutting out so many vehicles from qualifying “makes absolutely no sense.”

There’s about a double-digit price gap between ZEVs and their internal combustion engine counterparts.

“We’ve never suggested incentives should be in place forever, but they need to be in place until price parity with ICE vehicles is achieved — and we are not close to that,” said David Adams, president and CEO of the Global Automakers of Canada.

The leaders called on the government to reconsider the changes. Otherwise, meeting the federal government’s goal of 90 per cent ZEV sales by 2030 becomes “essentially insurmountable,” Adams added.

Prices overall for vehicles are at risk of spiking should there be added difficulty in selling ZEVs as a result of this rule change.

“Unless government adopts a flexible approach, manufacturers will be hard-pressed to meet targets, leading them to restrict the supply of all vehicles for sale in the province to avoid penalties — which in turn will drive up all new and used vehicle prices, as we saw during the pandemic,” Qualey warned.

He also added that some manufacturers could reduce prices to fall within the threshold.

“We anticipate some manufacturers may reduce the cost of some models so they fall within the new threshold, but we believe the overall impact on consumers will be significant,” Qualey said.