Electric vehicle rebates claimed in province fell by almost half last year

Long waiting lists, a change in B.C.'s electric car rebate policy and an increase in the price of some versions of the popular Tesla Model 3 have led to a drop in electric vehicle rebates claimed over the past year, according to the New Car Dealers Association of B.C.

This comes as both the federal and provincial governments have moved up their timelines to have 100 per cent of new cars sold be zero emission by 2035.

According to data provided by the association, there were 9,693 EV units sold in the province in 2022 for which the owner successfully applied for a provincial rebate.

This was around half the 18,533 EV rebates issued by the B.C. government in 2021. In 2020, there were 8,622 rebates issued.

New Car Dealers Association president Blair Qualey said the drop was likely due to supply problems left over from COVID -19 that are leading to long waiting lists for EVs, plus the B.C. government's decision last summer to means-test EV rebates.

Before August 2022, anyone was eligible for a $4,000 electric car rebate in B.C. as long as the vehicle was worth $55,000 or less.

However, anyone now earning more than $100,000 isn't eligible to apply for a rebate. Under the new regime if you earn less than $80,000 you can get a $4,000 rebate, $2,000 if you earn between $80,000 and $90,000, and $1,000 if you earn between $90,000 and $100,000.

The $5,000 federal rebate isn't means-tested and applies to EV cars worth less than $55,000, and EV SUVs and trucks worth less than $60,000.

Ekta Bibra, senior policy adviser with the Simon Fraser University-based Clean Energy Canada, said that partway through 2022, the price for some versions of the Tesla Model 3 (the most popular electric vehicle in B.C.) were bumped up and outside eligibility for a federal or provincial rebate.

Qualey said that his industry sources and experts were telling him that supply chain problems should diminish in 2023, noting sales of all passenger vehicles were down in 2022 compared with the year before.

“Everyone I'm talking to says it's improving,” said Qualey.

In 2022, the most popular EV car sold in B.C. was the Tesla Model 3, followed by the Chevrolet Bolt, Hyundai Kona, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Mini Cooper.

In 2021, it was the Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Kona, Prius Prime, Tesla Model Y and the Toyota RAV4 Prime (with the Model 3 accounting for 43 per cent of all sales).

According to the B.C. government's Clean B.C. program, in 2021 electric passenger vehicles comprised 13 per cent of all passenger vehicles sold, compared with 9.4 per cent in 2020 and 8.7 per cent in 2019.