Quebec offers cash incentives on used EVs

The Quebec government is pushing the boundaries of its province-leading vehicle-electrification goals with a pilot project adding incentives on used EVs. But some observers warn too-tight regulations might restrict eligible-vehicle availability.

Effective April 1, the project began to offer a $4,000 cash rebate for the acquisition of a used electric car.

There are, however, conditions to be met before a rebate cheque can be cut.

The program is limited to the first 1,000 applicants who have purchased eligible used full-electrics.

EVs must be three or four years old, no more, no less. This means only 2013 and 2014 models are eligible.

The car must come from outside Quebec to prevent a rebate from being offered more than once for the same vehicle; it must be bought or leased through a dealer transaction, and the manufacturer's suggested retail price must have been under $125,000 when it was new.

Denis Dessureault, executive vice-president at the Montreal automobile dealers’ association, said the pilot project “will be profitable for large-format, used-car dealers who buy most of their inventory at weekly auction, and where most of their cars are from outside Quebec.”

Another side effect: “Expect that the price of the Nissan Leaf will go up,” said Dessureault, which could erase a large part of the $4,000 rebate.

“We are not even sure a thousand buyers will benefit from the incentive ... because it’s a 100-per-cent electric-vehicle rebate, all rechargeable hybrids are automatically eliminated: Volt, C-Max Energi, Fusion Energy, Prius rechargeable. The purchase window is small with only 2013 or 2014 models. The (Mitsubishi) i-Miev sold in such low numbers in those years that they are virtually impossible to find and the same can be said about the Focus EV. Spark EV sales took off in 2015 with the introduction of a fast-charging port, and you can also find a few Tesla S, but a lot of them were more than $125,000 new.”

In fact, the only model that sold in relatively high numbers in those two years was the Nissan Leaf. In kind, Nissan is launching a program to support the project.

From Nissan’s view, the project “will contribute to the Quebec government’s objective of increasing the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the province to 100,000 units by 2020,” said Nissan Canada President Joni Paiva.

Ford of Canada and Mitsubishi were contacted by Automotive News Canadaand neither had comment on the new amendment to Quebec’s Bill 104.

“We are following the Quebec initiative with great interest,” said Mitsubishi spokesman John Arnone, reserving further comment “until we learn more specific information.” Ford was still studying the amendment at press time.