The heads of major Canadian automobile industry associations slammed the B.C. government Tuesday over what they claim was a unilateral decision to cut about 75 per cent electric and hybrid models from its rebate program.
“With electric vehicle sales increasing faster than anticipated and currently at record levels, we needed to make adjustments to our CleanBC electric vehicle rebate program given available funding,” said the minister. “This came as a complete surprise to industry,” said Kingston in a call from Ottawa. “B.C. has established the most aggressive ZEV sales in North America and now it is pulling back” in a move that “all but guarantees the government’s mandated targets will not be met.”
In her statement, Minister Osborne said there are still more than 70 vehicle trims eligible under the government rebate program. She said “larger category” vehicles like pickup trucks and vans can still receive rebates if they don’t exceed a manufacturer suggested retail price of $70,000. Osborne also said the province expects more models to be available as manufacturers lower prices.