Car brands offering rebates on electric vehicles

With Ottawa suddenly pausing its EV rebate program, some car brands are now offering incentives to help customers fill the gap.

Charles Bari of Spinelli Dealerships said the initiative is welcome, as it helps ease the situation.

“These folks are officially now on the line to either pay $5,000 more or cancel their transaction and look at other alternatives,” said Bari.

He said manufacturers such as Volkswagen, Nissan and Honda are offering rebates of up to $5,000.

Kia and Hyundai are offering rebates as well.

Since 2019, the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) Program offered rebates of up to $5,000 for new light-duty electric cars. However, Transport Canada said the money has run out.

According to the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, there are around 20,000 sales that are stuck in limbo.

“This is not the way that things should be handled in a country such as Canada,” said Tim Reuss, the organization’s president & CEO.

Reuss says if rebates are no longer provided, Ottawa should get rid of its EV mandate as well.

“If one side of the equation is not there, the other side needs to change,” he said.

Canada aims for 20 per cent of car sales to be electric by next year.

Meanwhile, Quebec’s Roulez vert subsidy program will be put on hold next month.

When it resumes in April, subsidies for fully electric vehicles will go from $7,000 (2024) to $4,000 (2025) before dropping to $2,000 (2026) and then nothing in 2027 when the program comes to an end.

Since the federal rebate is no longer offered and the provincial rebate will come to an end, Bari expects sales of electric cars to drop.

“We do anticipate a negative impact,” he said.