British Columbia joins governments planning to ban gas and diesel cars

Canadian reader K's new Tesla Model 3The Canadian province of British Columbia plans to ban sales of new gas and diesel cars by 2040, phasing in targets for electric car sales starting in 2025. The province would join nine countries and more than a dozen cities around the world in setting a deadline to end eternal-combustion sales in coming decades, including Britain, France, Norway...

Tesla sales: how much do rebates matter to buyers in Canada?

2013 Tesla Model S on Chilcotin Highway, Canada [photo: owner Vincent Argiro]The government of Ontario amended its plug-in electric vehicle incentive program in March, eliminating incentives for vehicles with a recommended price of $75,000 or more. What effect will this have on demand for Tesla’s Model S and X? Two years ago, this site analyzed the impacts on electric-car sales in British Columbia when funding for...

Tesla sales: how much do rebates matter to buyers in Canada?

2013 Tesla Model S on Chilcotin Highway, Canada [photo: owner Vincent Argiro]The government of Ontario amended its plug-in electric vehicle incentive program in March, eliminating incentives for vehicles with a recommended price of $75,000 or more. What effect will this have on demand for Tesla’s Model S and X? Two years ago, this site analyzed the impacts on electric-car sales in British Columbia when funding for...

California now testing pre-approved electric-car rebates in San Diego

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EVIt's clear that incentives to buy specific cars work best when they can be applied directly at the time of sale. That's why purchase rebates are widely preferred by electric-car advocates to tax credits, which may take up to 15 months to be usable, depending on the timing of the purchase and tax filing. While the federal electric-car incentive is...

In an ideal world, this is how electric-car tax credits should work

2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car at EVgo fast-charging station, Newport Centre, Jersey City, NJThe tax reform bill likely to be voted on by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives retained a number of provisions originally slated to be cut from the tax code. Among them was the federal income-tax credit for purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle. Three carmakers—General Motors, Nissan, and Tesla—have now used more than half...

If you plan to buy an electric car, you should do it this month

2017 Nissan Leaf  Common wisdom has it that the last few days of any calendar year are the best time to buy a car. Not only are franchised dealers and their salespeople seeking to close out the month with a bang, but it's the end of a year and their allocation of cars next year can depend on how many they sell this year. In other words: bargains may be there for...

Tax bill may eliminate credit for all electric-car buyers: report

Chevrolet Bolt EV being charged outside Go Forth electric-car showroom, Portland   [photo: Forth]The process of drafting a so-called tax reform bill has been shrouded in mystery, with even Republican congressmembers admitting they didn't know what provisions it will contain. But according to a report on Thursday, the draft of the bill, named the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—to be released Thursday—may eliminate the income-tax credit of...

CA bill would make up for federal electric-car incentives as they expire

California state capitol, SacramentoThe state of California has a long track record of supporting electric cars and doing everything possible to ensure plug-in vehicles can be obtained by the largest number of drivers. Aside from the Federal income-tax credits available nationally, the state of California has its own purchase rebates. Local utilities have also begun to incentivize...

Texas restores $2,500 electric-car purchase rebate, except for Teslas

Tesla owners & supporters gather in Statehouse in Austin to support company [photo: John Griswell]Ah, Texas, the state that was formerly a nation and continues to do things slightly differently. Its politics is bare-knuckle, its hats are big, and so are its ranches. It also generates more renewable wind energy than any other state in the union. Its auto-dealer lobbyists, however, are equally large and powerful. DON'T MISS: Tesla Loses Legal...

California utility SCE offers $450 rebate for new and used electric cars

2015 Nissan Leaf with CHAdeMO fast-charging cable plugged in  [photo John Briggs]California already offers generous incentives to get consumers into electric vehicles, but now the electric utility Southern California Edison has joined in. SCE has announced what it calls the Clean Fuel Rewards Program to offer a $450 purchase rebate for battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners. The utility company isn't limiting the...