Electric car buyers get $5K rebate under new B.C. government incentive
Provincial government is introducing new rebate program for clean energy vehicles
People who buy a clean energy vehicle — including some electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles — after April 1, 2015 will be eligible for a rebate of up to $6,000, the B.C. government announced Monday.
The incentive program will provide B.C. residents with up to $5,000 off the pre-tax sticker price for new battery electric, fuel-cell electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and up to $6,000 for a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, said a release from the New Car Dealers Association of British Columbia.
The announcement expands on a rebate program that expired last year, and comes one week after Scrap-It, a non-profit society, offered British Columbians a $3,250 rebate to trade in old vehicles for electric cars.
"With transportation representing 37 per cent of total provincial greenhouse gas emissions, clean energy vehicles are essential to reducing emissions and maintaining healthy air quality," B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak said in a government release.
The government cited limited hydrogen fuelling locations as the reason for offering a larger rebate for fuel cell vehicles.
Eligible electric and fuel cell vehicles
Here are the vehicles eligible for the point-of-sale rebate, and the maximum amounts:
- Battery electric vehicle: $5,000
- Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle: $6,000
- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle/extended range electric vehicle with a minimum battery capacity greater than 15 kilowatt hours: $5,000
- Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle/extended range electric vehicle with a minimum battery capacity of less than 15kWh but greater than 4kWh: $2,500
People who choose to lease one of the vehicles will also be eligible for a rebate, depending on the terms of the lease.
The point-of-sale incentives will run until March 31, 2018, or until the $10.6 million the government is using from its Innovative Clean Energy Fund to pay for the program runs out.