(Quebec) The time of juicy subsidies offered to buyers of electric cars is coming to an end. The Quebec government is announcing a significant reduction in its Roulez vert program starting next year and its scrapping in 2027.
“You should know that the incentive was based on the differential between the price of electric cars and that of gasoline cars, this differential has fallen significantly over time and a federal tax credit has been added,” explained the Minister of Finance, Eric Girard, to justify the abandonment of subsidies within three years.
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This year, buyers of fully electric cars will still be entitled to a maximum subsidy of $7,000, or $5,000 for a hybrid. From 2025 the aid will increase to $4,000 and $2,000 respectively for these categories, then to $2,000 and $1,000 in 2026. The following year, 2027, will mark the death of Roulez vert, except for subsidies for charging stations. .
This very popular program was costing taxpayers more and more. In 2022-2023, $238 million had been distributed to buyers. Last year, the program cost around 400 million.
But Quebec does not cite the cost of the program to justify its end in 2027. The Minister of Finance indicates that other measures are more effective than subsidies in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Remember that Quebec is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 37.5% compared to the 1990 level.
Quebec had never hidden the fact that Roulez vert, created in 2012, was not eternal. “This incentive was necessary in order to initiate the electrification of the automobile fleet in Quebec in a context where there were few models available, where their capacities were more limited and where the charging network was emerging,” we can read in the budget.
However, the government notes that the electric vehicle market can now stand on its own two feet. In the third quarter of 2023, more than one in five new vehicles sold in Quebec was electric.
“Today there are more than 240,000 electric vehicles on the roads of Quebec,” indicates the budget. This is still far from the Quebec government’s objective of reaching 2 million electric cars on the roads in 2030.
Former Quebec Environment Minister Daniel Breton is not surprised that the subsidy program is being reduced. “It was planned from the start for ten years that it would not be forever. On the other hand, I did not expect the government to lower them so quickly,” says the man who is also CEO of Electric Mobility Canada.
Daniel Breton has been advocating for years a bonus-malus system, in which the rebate on the purchase of electric vehicles would be financed by a tax on the most energy-consuming vehicles. “I think the government missed an opportunity to help the transition,” he says.
Roulez vert will maintain a single incentive measure after 2027: subsidies for electrical terminals will be maintained at $600 at home and $5,000 in the workplace or for multiple dwellings.
It should be noted that the federal government is maintaining its subsidy program for the purchase of electric vehicles until March 31, 2025 or until the funds are exhausted. The maximum grant is $5,000.