My wife and I plan to buy a used electric car in the next few months, a replacement for the 2001 VW Jetta that we bought second-hand.
In researching this purchase, I found that there are two provincial programs that encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles. The Electric Rebate Program offers a discount of up to $8,000 on the purchase and the Scrap-it Incentive Program offers up to $3,000 on the vehicle that’s traded in on such a purchase.
The glaring weakness in both programs is that the electric vehicle that’s purchased must be new.
Sadly, there are no government financial incentives to buy an electric vehicle that has been previously owned. You would think that in this day and age, those who seek to reduce, re-use and recycle would be rewarded.
It makes me think that the incentive programs are less about getting carbon-burning vehicles off the road and more about the B.C. Liberals kowtowing to the automobile lobby.
Dave Secco
Victoria
