Car dealers denounce the gradual abolition of the subsidy for the purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles by 2027, announced by Quebec on Tuesday. They predict a slowdown in sales growth, which would prevent the achievement of the objective set by Quebec of having 2 million electric cars on the roads by 2030. Motorists, for their part, are divided.
“We think it’s too early,” declared Ian Sam Yue Chi, CEO of the Corporation des Concessionaires Automobiles du Québec (CCAQ).
The latter believes that the Roulez vert program has proven its effectiveness in contributing to the adoption of electric vehicles by Quebecers. In 2023, more than 20% of new vehicles registered in Quebec were electric, according to the most recent study by the firm S&P Global Mobility on the Canadian automobile market.
“When our neighbors in Ontario abolished their similar program in 2018, it had the immediate effect of reducing the sale of electric vehicles,” argued Mr. Sam Yue Chi.
In 2023, sales of electric vehicles lagged in Ontario compared to Quebec and British Columbia, with a percentage of 7.72% of new vehicles registered. It must be said that the two provinces at the head of the pack have another tool up their sleeve, namely regulations that require manufacturers to distribute a minimum of electric vehicles.
This standard also worries the CCAQ. “We fear having inventories that we will have difficulty selling to Quebecers,” said Mr. Sam Yue Chi.
On the side of the Association of Electric Vehicles of Quebec (AVEQ), the news was received as “a shock”. “We expected that 2027 would be the announcement of the reduction of incentives, and not the abolition of incentives,” indicated Simon-Pierre Rioux, spokesperson for this group of owners and future vehicle owners. electrical.
“In 2024, people will rush to buy an electric vehicle, in 2025 too. But in 2026-2027, [ceux qui vont acheter] will really have done their calculations and know that it is advantageous to drive electric,” predicted Mr. Rioux, who fears that the $5,000 federal incentive will also be abolished by a possible Conservative government.
The latter says he hopes that the prices of electric cars, which are still generally higher than those of gasoline vehicles, will drop substantially by 2027.
An incentive?
On the Facebook group “Electric and hybrid vehicles of Quebec », many owners and enthusiasts predict that the end of the subsidy will force manufacturers to lower the prices of their electric vehicles. Many of them assumed that certain manufacturers were taking advantage of the situation to increase their prices. Some also recalled a recent report from the show The billon Radio-Canada, according to which citizens bought new electric vehicles to pocket the subsidy and resell them quickly.
Legal advisor to the Association for the Protection of Motorists, Hubert Lamontagne assumes that manufacturers will have to adapt to demand by offering more compact, less equipped and more affordable models.
“The subsidies gave greater purchasing power to consumers, who then may have favored electric SUVs instead of small Chevrolet Bolts,” he said.
Me Lamontagne judged that their abolition is a “normal development of things” and that we must even think about ways to tax electric vehicles, in order to ensure the income necessary for road maintenance.
Vélo Québec, for its part, welcomed the news, believing that the sums of money thus released could be used for more effective measures in terms of sustainable mobility. “Having subsidies for cargo bikes or electrically assisted bikes could be interesting,” said Jean-François Rheault, CEO of the organization.
Vélo Québec and AVEQ, as well as the industrial association Electric Mobility Canada, have all spoken out in favor of a bonus-malus system, i.e. royalties on the sale of gasoline vehicles, in order to discourage the latter at the moment. profit from electric cars. Such a measure was absent from the last budget, but they still hope to see it appear soon.