N.B. electric vehicle rebate ending this summer, advocate calls it disappointing

The province has announced that its electric vehicle rebate of up to $5,000, for fully electric and hybrid vehicles, will end on July 1.

The move comes after the federal rebate for zero-emission vehicles was halted in January.

The program, which is run through N.B. Power, is still open to applications as long as the vehicle is purchased by June 30, a news release said. 

But as the program ends, electric vehicle owner and advocate Carl Duivenvoorden will be sad to see it go.

"Obviously I'm disappointed because I think it's been a really good program for helping promote the uptake of EVs," Duivenvoorden said, speaking to Shift on CBC Radio.

He pointed to rebates like this as being the reason for high adoption in other places, such as British Columbia, Quebec, Norway and China.

It was successful in New Brunswick because it was applied at the time of purchase and dealerships handled the paperwork, Duivenvoorden said. 

"So it became really, really easy for New Brunswickers to take advantage of."

The province was also successful in achieving six per cent of light vehicles sold being electric, "which is really good because I think in the early days perhaps we were lagging a little bit. So that's good," Duivenvoorden said. 

But that's still a low percentage he said, and while prices for used electric vehicles have decreased, "they are not quite at parity yet and that is still a significant barrier for people."

There are now about 7,000 electric vehicles in New Brunswick, and with "prices falling and expected to eventually reach parity with traditional gas-powered vehicles, electric vehicles are becoming a more affordable option," the province said. 

While the rebate had helped many New Brunswickers get into the market, the province is now turning its attention to improving charging infrastructure, said Finance Minister René Legacy, in the news release.

"We hope that our commitment to funding more charging stations across New Brunswick will encourage continued electric vehicle sales and address the concerns related to range anxiety," Legacy said, adding that more details would be released "in the near future."