Feds to reimburse auto dealers impacted by EV rebate suspension
Global News
In January, Transport Canada paused its popular Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program — iZEV — after its funding ran out.
The federal government will explain Friday how it plans to reimburse auto dealers who were left hanging when Ottawa suspended its electric vehicle rebate program earlier this year.
In January, Transport Canada paused its popular Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles program — iZEV — after its funding ran out. Ottawa spent nearly $3 billion on iZEV during its five-year lifespan.
The program provided up to $5,000 toward the purchase of a new zero-emissions vehicle. But with the abrupt suspension of the program — only three days after the government suggested it would be paused when the funds were exhausted — hundreds of dealerships were forced to swallow the cost of any rebate claims they hadn’t yet submitted.
“It was a shocking series of events in January when they shut down the program after giving notice that the program would go through an orderly wind-down,” said Huw Williams, public affairs director with the Canadian Automobile Dealers Association, which represents about 3,500 auto dealerships.
He said that, collectively, dealers are out about $11 million.
Tesla submitted rebate claims worth more than $43 million for 8,600 EVs on the weekend before the program was suspended, according to analysis by the Toronto Star.
In March, Transport Minister Chrystia Freeland said Ottawa was pausing payments to Tesla in order to investigate the claims it had made.
A spokesperson for Freeland’s office would not offer an update on the Tesla investigation.
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