Ontario's electric vehicle rebate will include Tesla following lawsuit

Sep 1 2018, 1:55 am

The Ontario Government is now including Tesla in its electric vehicle rebate program following a lawsuit by the car company.

On Friday, the province issued a statement saying that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has rendered its decision, and the province is following it.

“Ontario cancelled the cap and trade program to bring gas prices down and help lower costs for Ontario families and businesses,” said John Yakabuski, Minister of Transportation. “As a result, on July 11, 2018, the Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program was cancelled.”

The statement said that the ministry will abide by the court’s decision, and Yakabuski said that it will expand “the wind-down process for the Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program.”

As such, incentives for electric vehicles will be provided as long as the following conditions are met:

  • Eligible vehicles were delivered, registered, and plated on or before July 11; or,
  • Eligible vehicles were on dealer lots in Ontario – or on order by dealers or by customers directly from manufacturers on or before July 11, and delivered to customers, registered and plated on or before September 10, 2018. These vehicles must be on the ministry approved order list from dealers and manufacturers.
  • Applications must be submitted within 90 days of vehicle registration, plating and delivery.

“Ending the Electric and Hydrogen Vehicle Incentive Program could save Ontario taxpayers up to an estimated $1 billion over four years,” said the Minister.

Earlier this month, Tesla sued the provincial government. According to court documents filed in Toronto, Tesla was suing Ontario over the cancellation of the electric vehicle incentives in the province.

The incentives, worth up to $14,000, were cancelled after Ford took office in June.

“On July 11, 2018, the Minister of Transportation cancelled a program that provided Ontario customers with rebates for the purchase of electric vehicles,” read the court document.

“Before and after being elected, the current Premier and members of the government had always promised that people who ordered or bought a vehicle ‘before the cancellation would still get the rebate.’ Instead, when the Transition Plan was announced, the Minister of Transportation grandfathered applications for all such purchases except for purchases from Tesla Canada.”

The document added that the Minister of Transportation’s decision left hundreds of Tesla Canada customers in Ontario in an “unfair position” of no longer being eligible for the rebate they had expected.

Since 2010, the Ontario government had offered incentives to individuals purchasing or leasing hybrid-electric or electric vehicles.

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