Federal ecoAUTO rebate program last call

Let’s say you bought a pure electric car yesterday. Good for you – but where are you going?

The biggest single hurdle for pure electric vehicles (PEVs) – and there are several – is a lack of support from government and industry. Only five PEV models are even certified as roadworthy in Canada, for instance. And they are pricier than their gas-guzzling cousins.

Governments across Canada have started to see things differently, and are finding new ways to “green” their roads and entice consumers to buy low- or zero-emission cars. The federal government ecoAUTO Rebate Program has done its bit. 

It offers rebates of up to $2,000 to people who buy or enter a long-term lease for certain types of fuel-efficient vehicles. But in order to be considered for a rebate, applications must be received by March 31, 2009. British Colombia offers a similar rebate for new hybrids and PEVs through a sliding scale of tax concessions.

It’s not only governments that are dangling financial carrots before prospective new car buyers, but corporations too. GE Capital Solutions Fleet Services announced a hybrid rebate program for fleets that lease hybrid vehicles. The Energy Tax Incentives Act of 2005 reserves $875 million for advanced vehicular technology projects such as hybrid tax credits.

When asked where the long-promised electric car would be widely available, auto manufacturers always shrugged their shoulders and insisted it wasn’t their fault – there wasn’t enough demand, or any government support. Perhaps spurred by surging in fuel prices in 2008, that seems to have shifted.

Who knows – maybe with enough tax incentives, we’ll see jet cars yet.