Alberta's $4.6M municipal EV incentive program has its first taker

The City of Leduc has become the first municipality in Alberta to cash in on a new $4.6-million provincial rebate program designed to encourage the purchase of greener vehicles.

Earlier this month, the city took delivery of a Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid and received an $8,000 rebate from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre (MCCAC). The centre's Electric Vehicles for Municipalities Program program, which launched in March, helps Alberta municipalities transition their fleet vehicles towards more fuel-efficient ones, such as battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

The MCCAC was established in 2009 as a joint initiative between the Government of Alberta, the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association, and Rural Municipalities of Alberta. 

“Municipalities’ fleet vehicles have high operating costs and can significantly benefit from increased energy efficiency,” MCCAC said in a statement. “Increasing electric vehicle adoption through the program will demonstrate the benefits of this technology and spread awareness of electric transportation in Alberta communities.”

Leduc Mayor Bob Young in a Facebook post called the purchase “a great addition to the Leduc engineering fleet” and said the vehicle would be charged by electricity generated from city-owned solar panels.

Calls to city staff and Mayor Young were not returned.

However, Shawn Olson, Leduc’s director of engineering, told the website Electric Autonomy Canada that he expects the city to expand its fleet of EVs.

“The city just recently approved our GHG [greenhouse gas] action plan,” Olson told the site. “One of the council-approved priorities … is that the city is going to buy a best-in-class new fleet by adding fuel efficiency to our procurement manual. That starts in 2020. It will encourage us to buy more electric vehicles.”

General Motors Canada applauded the new incentive program.

“At GM, we have an unwavering commitment to invest in technologies to drive an all-electric future because these are the right actions for our customers, our company and our environment,” the company said in an email to Automotive News Canada. “Incentives like the EVM program are an important step forward in our collective journey to a world with zero emissions.”

Ford, which plans an electrified version of the F-150, did not respond to request for comment.

Currently, nine passenger BEVs and PHEVs qualify for rebates of either $4,000 or $8,000, depending on make, model and powertrain. Vehicles leased for 12-48 months are also eligible for 25-100 per cent of the rebate depending on the length of the lease.

Rebates on larger vehicles are even bigger. Electric and plug-in hybrid electric medium- or heavy-duty vehicles priced up to $50,000 qualify for a 25-per-cent rebate of the pre-GST purchase costs. At the moment, only the BYD 8R and Fuso eCanter qualify.

Municipalities can also apply for both the provincial and new federal EV incentive, which went into effect in May and is worth up to $5,000 per vehicle, which means they can save up to $13,000 per vehicle.

Denis Ducharme, head of the Motor Dealer Association of Alberta, which represents more than 90 per cent of the province's franchised new-vehicle and heavy-truck dealerships, was quick to note that until this year, the province never had an EV rebate of any kind.

"Both federal EV incentive programs for individuals and municipal governments will certainly make a difference and entice Albertans to consider purchasing EV’s," Ducharme said.