Ottawa’s electric vehicle rebate program paid billions of dollars in subsidies while most recipients surveyed reported earning more than $100,000 a year and nearly one-quarter said they would have purchased an electric vehicle without the incentive, federal records show.Blacklock's Reporter says only 5% of surveyed recipients reported annual incomes below $50,000, according to the Department of Transport report Evaluation Of The Incentives For Zero-Emission Vehicles Program.“Uptake is predominantly in the higher income brackets,” said the report.Researchers found 23% of individuals and organizations surveyed said the federal rebate did not influence their decision to purchase a zero-emission vehicle.“Almost one quarter of individuals and organizations, 23%, indicated they would have bought a zero emission vehicle even without the incentive,” wrote researchers.The department said most individual recipients who voluntarily completed its survey earned six-figure incomes.“The majority of individuals who received the incentive and voluntarily completed the survey indicated they had an income over $100,000,” said the report. “Only 5% of respondents indicated they had an income under $50,000.”The federal rebates, introduced in 2019, had cost taxpayers approximately $2.6 billion, according to the Evaluation.Subsidies were paid toward the purchase or lease of 563,312 vehicles. Zero-emission vehicles never represented more than 15% of nationwide vehicle sales during the period examined, according to the report.The findings echo concerns raised by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation during 2020 hearings of the Commons environment committee.“If the purpose of these subsidies is to encourage the uptake of zero emission vehicles, it seems a relevant question is whether they are actually leading to a higher uptake or simply providing subsidies to people who were going to buy zero emission vehicles anyway,” testified Aaron Wudrick, then-federal director of the Federation.Wudrick also questioned whether taxpayers should subsidize vehicle purchases for higher-income Canadians.“I think it’s a fair question to ask whether regular Canadian taxpayers should be subsidizing the purchase of luxury vehicles for people who are prepared to pay full price for them,” said Wudrick. “I would suggest the answer is no.”.The department’s evaluation also identified cost, charging availability, battery range and cold-weather performance among obstacles limiting wider adoption of electric vehicles.Electric vehicles could cost anywhere from $3,000 to $30,000 more than comparable internal combustion models, researchers wrote.The report also cited unpredictable access to public charging stations and concerns over battery range.“Climate does affect battery performance,” wrote researchers. “Battery life will decrease faster in colder weather because chemical reactions inside the lithium ion batteries slow down.”Federal data showed freezing temperatures could reduce electric vehicle driving range by as much as 55%.“Similarly, using the air conditioner in hotter weather can also decrease vehicle range,” said the Evaluation.
.png?w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
