But the price tag is still very high, even with government subsidy programs. According to a story on CTV, fully electric cars with prices of less than $45,000 are eligible for the federal $5,000 rebate while the Quebec provincial government offers an $8,000 rebate for an electric vehicle purchase of less than $75,000. Compare that with a manual shift Toyota Corolla which will put you back less than $20,000 without extras.
It's only the upscale market that is ripe for electric cars right now, as witness this lovely driveway (no unsightly asphalt) next to a house on which the owners are spending fortune to up grade...
Think we'll keep our 2002 Corolla going for as long as possible...
4 comments:
My daughter and her husband are looking at EVs but they keep running into the same problem - lack of range. Their favourite is the Audi A3 etron but reviewers think it requires twice a day charging. Tesla 3 is good but has a 2-year waiting list. Pretty much everything else with decent range is far beyond their budget.
As for me, at my age I tend to get well above a dozen years out of a car. I don't drive a lot and just discovered I will be eligible for a 10% low-mileage discount from the insurer next year given to those who log less than 5,000 kms./yr. I sharpened my pencil and figured there's a good chance my 2017 will be my last car and I'm not even in the "green banana" club yet.
Sticker shock is a problem with EV's. We are used to that metric and do not factor in lower running and maintenance costs over the life of the vehicle . Part of this problem is financing . The $5k is a way of financing the battery to allow savings down the road. EV's batteries should be seen as ICE's gas to compare the two.
They can indeed play a part in the solution, but the real solution at least in urban areas would mean far fewer cars; hence far better public transport (including modern trams - there used to be a tram at the corner of Laurier and Parc; looks like it turned west at Laurier and went up Côte-Ste-Catherine; the tracks that emerged after winter must have been removed by the recent road work there). But also more walkable and cyclable cities, as well as better access for the differently abled and for people of all ages.
Probably the best solution would be to keep your current car for the time being but use it as little as possible. Unfortunately I don't think we'll be getting the pink métro line anytime soon, but we will be getting better service on buslines parallel to the eastern segment of the orange line. The dreadful service on Papineau has been improved, and the Parc CDN rush-hours loop will be divided in two.
Unrelated comment: https://www.montrealbaroque.com/index.php?vMenu=335&vOptions=liste|concerts
Montréal Baroque will be up in my hood as well!!!
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