MONTREAL — The head of Quebec’s automobile dealers association says the government’s decision to end a rebate for the purchase of electric vehicles will slow the province’s shift to cleaner cars.
Ian Sam Yue Chi of the Corporation des concessionnaires d’automobiles says the rebate, currently worth up to $7,000, makes a big difference for consumers.
In his budget tabled Tuesday, Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard said the government will phase out subsidies for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids beginning next year, before ending them completely in 2027.
The province says that since one in five new vehicles sold in the province is electric, the rebate is no longer necessary to encourage purchases.
But Sam Yue Chi says that because another Quebec law requires automobile manufacturers to distribute electric vehicles in Quebec, dealers could be stuck with cars they can’t sell.
Environmental group Équiterre said in a news release that while the government argues the subsidy doesn’t reduce emissions enough per dollar spent, the province isn’t funding public transit adequately to give people alternatives to private vehicles.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2024.
