Quebec off pace for making 2020 target of 100,000 electric, hybrid cars, says industry
Electric car association says government's buyer incentive program needs revamp if target is to be reached
A provincial plan that wants to see 100,000 electric and hybrid rechargeable cars on Quebec's streets by 2020 will fall well short of its goal if additional subsidies aren't made available, says the province's electric car association.
Known by its French acronym AVEQ, the association says there are only around 13,000 electric and hybrid vehicles on Quebec roads at the moment.
Of that number, around 11,700 received financing from the government's Drive Electric program, which offers rebates of up to $8,000 on the purchase of all-electric, plug-in hybrid, hybrid or low-speed electric vehicles.
Richard Lemelin, vice-president of AVEQ, said the rebates are not sufficient if the government hopes to reach its 2020 target.
"The current incentives aren't high enough to ensure progression [toward that goal]," he said.
Lemelin points to a program financed by the Ontario government that was launched earlier this year that provides up to $12,000 in financial assistance for an electric car like the Nissan Leaf and up to $14,000 for the Chevrolet Bolt.
"Quebec's program needs to provide at least as much [as Ontario], if not more," Lemelin said.
Meanwhile, 75 per cent of the $134 million the government had set aside in 2012 to assist electric and hybrid cars buyers has already been used and the fund could run dry within a year.
Performance improvements
Dany D'Anjou, an electric car salesman with Nissan Ste-Foy in Quebec City, also said Quebec needs to revisit the program if the government hopes to reach the 100,000 mark.
"Something's missing," he said.
While acknowledging that the rebates have helped sway some buyers to go electric or hybrid, he said they are not enough to convince the tens of thousands of buyers that the government needs to meet its 2020 target.
D'Anjou said electric car performance is improving all the time and the time is right to improve Quebec's incentive program.
"Batteries are coming that will carry a charge for 300 kilometres," he said. "That's going to open the eyes of many buyers."
A spokeswoman for Pierre Arcand, Quebec's minister of energy and natural resources, said the government is open to improving the incentive program.
"We're due to evaluate the Drive Electric program in terms of the target, new technologies and vehicles, the kinds of available financial aid and the necessary incentives," Véronique Normandin said.
Based on a report by Radio-Canada's Alexandre Duval