New car dealers in British Columbia are pushing back against the province’s plan to pause its electric vehicle rebate program.
The federal government moved to pause its rebates earlier this year, and on Tuesday, provincial Energy Minister Adrian Dix said B.C. was pausing its own rebate as it reviews its CleanBC climate program.
But auto dealers say the move will put the price of new electric vehicles out of reach for many people, particularly as the industry braces for the effects of U.S. auto tariffs.
“Support still needs to be there, there’s still a gap in the price, electric vehicles still cost more than the equivalent vehicles, we need some way to bridge that,” said Blair Qualey, president and CEO of New Car Dealers Association.
British Columbia has doled out more than $650 million to help incentivize electric vehicle adoption since it started its rebate program.
Leigh Heppner, general manager at Preston GM in Langley, said those incentives have been critical in convincing EV-curious shoppers to make the switch.
“Bringing the price down to where it can be more affordable is a huge help to those people who are on the fence,” he said.
“It feels very sudden. I think it’s hard for our customers to plan when maybe they have ordered a vehicle and they are relying on that rebate to be on when it comes in, and it’s not here yet. Or maybe they’ve been considering a new purchase.”
The freezing of the rebate program has also raised questions about how B.C. will meet the aggressive targets under its electric vehicle mandate.
Under B.C. law, 90 per cent of new vehicles sold in B.C. by 2030 must be zero-emission, rising to 100 per cent in 2035.
Dealers will pay a $20,000 penalty per gas-powered vehicle they sell outside the mandate, a cost Qualey said will get passed on to the customer.
According to the provincial government, just under one in four (22.4 per cent) new light-duty vehicles sold in B.C. in 2024 were zero-emission.
Barry Penner, chair of the Energy Futures Institute, said scrapping the EV subsidy would make achieving the targets impossible.
“On the one hand they are saying you must drive an electric car, we are bringing in these mandates so you don’t have any choice … and on the other hand they are taking way the financial support that would make it more affordable,” he said.
“If the government is withdrawing financial support for people who are being told they have to buy EVs, then it’s time to get rid of the mandates.”
It’s a position the auto sales industry agrees with.
Qualey said he’s hopeful the province’s CleanBC program review will also look at the EV mandates, which he also argued have become unreachable.
“They were the most aggressive targets in North America,” he said.
“Taking this market support away will make a difference and ensure we will never get to those targets.”
Heppner argued that consumers still need more time to come around to the new technology, particularly as the number of EV options grows in the years to come.
“I really think we need time to let the products come to market and get the education to the consumer to a point where we can see higher adoption levels,” he said.
“It doesn’t work for every consumer in every situation, and if the mandates don’t go away, it’s only going to lead to higher costs for everybody.”
The province, meanwhile, argues the EV transition is already well underway, with the number of zero-emission vehicles on the road surging from just 5,000 in 2016 to almost 195,000 and a public charging network boasting 7,000 stations provincewide.
The Energy Ministry said the province remains “committed to working with automakers and dealers to determine the best ways to continue supporting ZEV adoption,” work that will be a part of the broader CleanBC program review.