The Canadian government already has an EV incentive plan, to complement those of some provinces.The government has even just topped up its program by $73 million this week to take it to the spring, as its total budget since 2019 has been almost $660 million. But with a variety of new electric SUVs and pickup trucks expected to hit the market in the coming year, the Liberal federal government is reportedly considering expanding upon the existing Zero Emission Vehicles EV rebate program.
Specifically, policy makers are toying with the idea of making more expensive EVs eligible for the federal rebates. Currently, the rebate is only extended to new EVs with a maximum base price of $45,000, and a maximum price for models with upgraded features of $55,000. Notably, this would disqualify many of the new SUVs and pickup trucks that are already for sale or expected to hit the market next year, despite the fact that light trucks and SUVs make up around 75 per cent of the total automotive sales market in Canada.
“The vast majority of vehicles purchased today are SUVs and pickup trucks, and while (zero-emission vehicle) options are becoming available for these segments, many of these will be priced out of the current iZEV program,” shared the transport minister, Omar Alghabra, in a written statement.
With steady increases in ZEV demand among consumers, an expansion of the federal rebate program could prove to be a major catalyst in the acceleration of Canadian ZEV sales over the long-term. This would also align with the Liberal government’s promise to spend another $1.5 billion over the next four years on the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles (iZEV) program.
